Emotional after avenging her Wimbledon remaining defeat in opposition to Marketa Vondrousova Wednesday, Ons Jabeur expressed her intention to contribute a portion of her WTA Finals prize cash to help Palestinians.
After incomes her first win of the week on the season-ending championships in Cancun, Tunisia’s Jabeur choked again tears as she spoke on the court docket.
“I am very happy with the win, but I have not been happy lately,” stated the one Arabic lady to succeed in a Grand Slam remaining.
“The situation in the world does not make me happy,” Jabeur added as she broke down in tears earlier than composing herself sufficient to speak concerning the Israel-Hamas battle.
“It is very tough seeing children and babies dying every day,” she stated.
“It is heartbreaking, so I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians. I cannot be happy with just this win or with what is happening. I am sorry guys, it is supposed to be about tennis, but it is very frustrating looking at videos every day. I am sorry – it is not a political message, it is just humanity. I want peace in this world and that’s it,” she added.
Later, in her post-match press convention, the 29-year-old Jabeur stated it had been a problem to concentrate on tennis.
“I try to stay off social media as much as I can, but it is very tough,” Jabeur stated.
“You go through videos, photos, they are horrible, horrible photos every day. It does not help me sleep or recover very well and the worst thing is that I feel hopeless. Maybe donating some money would help a little bit with what they have been going through. But I know money doesn’t mean anything right now to them. So, I wish freedom for everybody and really peace for everyone,” she added.
Jabeur should beat world No. 2 Iga Swiatek within the remaining match of round-robin play on Friday to have any likelihood of qualifying for the semifinals in Mexico.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
