(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Ons Jabeur admitted she “felt a lot of pressure and stress” just before she walked out on the Center Court for the Wimbledon final. Jabeur, 28, lost two Grand Slam finals last year and she didn’t want to end on the losing side in her third Grand Slam final as well.
Going into the match, sixth-seeded Jabeur was the favorite to beat Marketa Vondrousova. But the pressure of the Wimbledon final got to Jabeur, who played tight and definitely looked nervous on the court. In the end, 24-year-old Vondrousova beat Jabeur 6-4 6-4 to win her first Grand Slam title.
Jabeur: I felt a lot of pressure and stress
“Honestly, I felt a lot of pressure, feeling a lot of stress. But like every final, like every match I played, I was telling myself it’s okay, it’s normal. I honestly did nothing wrong.
I did everything that I could. But, yeah, I think things take time with me. Again, I said it wasn’t meant to be this time. Hopefully I will be like the others that failed couple of times to do it and it will come after,” Jabeur said. Jabeur tried to find a way to relax and shrug off the nerves but it didn’t work.
“A lot of breathing. A lot of positive talks. I tried to tell myself that nothing is over. It’s going to get better maybe. I been used to losing the first set in these last two matches, so I hoped maybe it would be better in the next few games.
But obviously not. I don’t know. We’ll keep doing what I’m doing. We’ll keep learning, for sure, because I think that’s the key for me,” Jabeur said. Last year, Jabeur looked devastated after Losing the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
After losing this year’s Wimbledon final, Jabeur broke down in tears and admitted this was the most painful defeat of her career.