Ons Jabeur: "It's not great going in the locker room at Wimbledon and seeing Elena Rybakina's picture, I try to take it off"

Ons Jabeur has become a fan favorite in the United Kingdom and she returns to these shores carrying the hopes of her nation as she attempts to improve on her previous dose of Wimbledon history.

The World No. 6 made history at the All England Club last year by becoming the first African and Arab woman to compete in a Grand Slam singles final during the Open Era. However, Elena Rybakina ultimately cut her fairytale run short.

Ons Jabeur sat down for a press conference prior to the start of her campaign at SW19, where she will be vying for her first Grand Slam title. She recalled her defeat at the hands of Elena Rybakina in the last year's final and made light of the fact that she tries to remove the Kazakh's picture from the locker room.

"It's coming back right now. People mentioning I'm the finalist of last year. It's not great going in the locker room [at Wimbledon] and seeing Elena's picture, but I try to take it off (laughter)," Jabeur said.

The Tunisian then stated that while she felt bad about not winning the title, she recognized the positive takeaways from reaching the final. She also mentioned her desire to make more memories, such as the ones she made last year on the grass.

"It's very nice, having the attention. You did a Grand Slam final. It's not a bad thing. It's something that it's great. Maybe sometimes I didn't see it that way because obviously I wanted to go for the title," Ons Jabeur said.

"But again, a final is a great final, it's a Grand Slam final. I just want to use that experience, use the pressure that I felt last year, to maybe do better this year. But again, my first goal here is to really enjoy playing on grass, maybe recreate greater memories like last year or the year before," she added.

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Ons Jabeur will face Magdalena Frech in her Wimbledon opener

Ons Jabeur pictured practicing ahead of Wimbledon 2023.

Ons Jabeur will face Magdalena Frech in the first round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Speaking of Frech, the Tunisian stated that she is a great player who has also had good results on grass and that the first rounds are always very tough and tricky.

"Yeah, I think she's a great player. She had good results on grass. I think she played good in Nottingham. Always, like, first rounds is going to be very tough and very tricky," she said.

Ons Jabeur added:

"My goal is really to try to get in the tournament in great shape and see what's going to happen. But for sure I want to impose my game. I want to enjoy being here at Wimbledon and see (smiling)."