Jabeur sets eyes on Melbourne after shoulder injury forces her off the tour

Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur is packing it in for the rest of the 2024 circuit, with an “extremely hard” struggle with her shoulder injury the main reason behind her early withdrawal.

“This year has been extremely hard for me and as athletes, we know recovery is part of the journey,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) today confirming the hiatus.

“Due to my ongoing shoulder injury, my medical team and I’ve made the difficult decision to step off the tennis circuit for the rest of the season. While I’m taking time to heal, I’ll be dedicating myself to charity work and ensuring that we make a real difference.”

The former world No.2’s expected break means we won’t see her play for the rest of 2024. Her eyes now turn to the Australian Open in Melbourne, with the calendar-opening Grand Slam the perfect place for Jabeur to stage a comeback.

It’s likely she’ll play at least one Aus-based tour event before the big Melbourne tournament.

🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hp0Vvtuvxh

— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) September 16, 2024

Jabeur rose to lofty heights through 2022 and 2023, finishing runner up at Wimbledon in both her seasonal campaigns and adding a second-place US Open finish in 2022. The huge points hauls across those two shining years propped her all the way up to second in the WTA world rankings, though she’s dropped somewhat since then.

The 30-year-old struggled more in 2024, though it was mostly injury related; she missed several tournaments through the calendar as her shoulder gave her grief, including having to pull out of the US Open. The same injury forced her to miss the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she would have represented Tunisia.

There were some shining moments, including a quarterfinal berth in Paris on the Roland Garros clay and a third round run at Wimbledon, though neither were particularly standout considering how she’d run in years past.

She also lost to 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva at the Australian Open in the second round.