At a time when big hitters are calling the shots in tennis, Ons Jabeur is a throwback to a bygone era when deft touches and exquisite shot-making earned points and plaudits.

But it’s on the back of such a languid style of play that this Tunisian player has become a trailblazer, rewriting the history books for Arab and African tennis in the last three years.

The first player from the region to reach a Grand Slam final (she has featured in three Slam finals), Jabeur’s story proves that you can be successful in an elite sport like tennis regardless of your ethnic and cultural background.

Many young Arab sportspersons, including Reema Juffali, the first female racing driver from Saudi Arabia, now draw inspiration from Jabeur’s epoch-making journey from the Tunisian coastal town of Sousse to the upper echelons of tennis.

Jabeur, 29, says she is very proud of becoming a symbol of Arab aspirations in sports.

“It's definitely my honour, it’s something that was missing a bit in our region,” Jabeur told the Khaleej Times over Zoom ahead of her first match at the Australian Open.

“We see different players, but not from the same region or from the same country. The athletes would question, you know, that we don’t have the same conditions and facilities, that’s why the other players (from Europe, the US, Australia) made it.

“So, my story, I think, most people know that I never practised in Europe when I was young, I always played in Tunisia, and that proves that you can make it even if you are from any country.

“It’s about believing in yourself and that’s always the message I try to send and hopefully I can inspire more and more athletes from Africa, the Middle East, Tunisia, every country.”

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