"It's frustrating to me as a woman" - Ons Jabeur claps back at criticism she received after calling out French Open scheduling

Ons Jabeur, a two-time Wimbledon finalist and World No. 59, who has ranked as high as World No. 2, made the news for a statement in the press conference at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. She will begin her campaign on Monday against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova.

The 30-year-old Tunisian, who has been recovering from a recurring shoulder injury she sustained towards the end of last season, has struggled with form since the Australian Open. She has only made it to the quarterfinals three times this year, accompanied by several early exits.

Speaking on Saturday, ahead of the start of Wimbledon, Ons Jabeur expressed her desire to use her platform to speak out positively.

“And for me, I'm like, I really cannot keep it inside any more. It's frustrating to me as a woman, to any woman athlete around the world and I want to be part of the people that would speak up. I would not want to stay silent,” said Jabeur, via The National.

Jabeur noted how speaking up was a difficult thing to do, but that bottling it all up inside was doing nobody a favor either. She also referenced her on-court interview at the WTA Finals in Cancun in 2023, where she made an emotional call for peace in Gaza.

“At a certain time, when things got worse in Gaza, I couldn't speak; some people advised me not to speak and I couldn't even do that. That's how the whole interview in Cancun happened because I was holding it inside for a long time."

Jabeur, who has always been a strong advocate for improving women's tennis, appeared in the headlines when she called out the organizers of the French Open for not scheduling any women's games at prime-time slots in the last couple of years.

Ons Jabeur immediately received severe backlash from fans on social media, with claims that women's games were barely being attended. In response, the 30-year-old penned an impassioned open letter on social media, which garnered considerable attention.

"I don't want to carry the disappointment that happened before," says Ons Jabeur ahead of Wimbledon 2025

Ons Jabeur at the 2025 Wimbledon | Getty Images

Some of Ons Jabeur's most notable career highlights have come at the All England Club, coupled with the most crushing of lows: two consecutive finals defeats in 2022 and 2023, against Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova, respectively.

Speaking about her experience here and her road to recovery, Jabeur noted that she was here to find herself again and didn't put too much expectation on these tournaments.

“Try to find that freedom when I'm playing and the joy when I'm playing. It's been a tough year, I would say. But yeah, it is what it is. I'm trying to repeat some positive words to myself that … I don't want to carry the disappointment that happened before and then hopefully I can move on with it,” said the 30-year-old, via The National.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist, discussing her biggest challenges at the moment, stated that she was becoming mentally prepared. Jabeur added that she needed to believe in herself again, and getting that confidence back will be key to her performance.

"It's always, I think, mentally. Because if you're mentally ready and want to do everything, I think it's easier to overcome any physical struggle or anything. But yeah, being on and off didn't help much.

“The ability of believing in myself that I can come back like before, it's been a bit low and that really affected me," said the two-time finalist at SW19. "So yeah, it’s just about a lot of believing in myself more than ever because coming back at a certain level, it's never easy. So I hope I can overcome that."

Ons Jabeur will now look to use this season as a stepping stone to gain momentum and come back roaring in 2026 to reach her old highs.