Ons Jabeur could snatch a Grand Slam title in 2023

James Richardson 20 Apr 2023 1:46 PM

Ons Jabeur celebrates a win

Is it just a matter of time before Ons Jabeur wins a Grand Slam, and might she just get over the line in 2023.

Former World No 1 Andy Roddick opined that Jabeur is a better player than some of the recent Major champions and has an all-court game that gives her four realistic chances to claim Grand Slam titles.

Roddick claims that he is a big fan of the Tunisian not just for her game but because of how she conducts herself off the court.

“Her game draws you in, the emotion with which she plays; I think the variety with which she plays. As a fan of hers, I think it’s simultaneously stressful and amazing that I don’t know what’s coming next,” Roddick told Eurosport.

“But I think the thing that makes me a fan is you hear behind the scenes what other people say about her. And if you hear it enough times, you probably know that it’s true. So I think that makes you a fan also.”

Roddick would be shocked if Jabeur ended her career without winning a Grand Slam title.

“She is a more complete player – I could play on two surfaces, not all of them. So that lends itself to her having four chances a year, as opposed to maybe I had a chance in Australia, but definitely not in Paris,” he said.

“Her game seems to translate and she seems to have the tennis IQ to switch in and out. (An) Open (draw) just means that our next champions haven’t won yet, that’s all it is. It means the familiar faces are getting older, or not present, or are injured, or we are in a transitional period.

“There’s no reason for her not to win a Grand Slam. You could say that there are people that she is probably better than that have won.”

The former US Open champion would meet Jabeur in New York late last year after a chance encounter with her husband

Roddick first ran into Karim but just missed a meeting with the 2022 US Open runner-up.

Jabeur was disappointed not to meet Roddick, but it wasn’t before the legend and future icon were formally introduced.

“I didn’t get to see him. My husband Karim saw him, introduced himself and said hello to him but I wasn’t there. I blame Karim,” Jabeur joked during a press conference.

“Where is Andy Roddick? I want to see him. I missed him by like one second.”

Jabeur eventually got to meet Roddick but couldn’t emulate him in winning the US Open.

It was the second Grand Slam final that Jabeur lost after going down to Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon earlier the same season.

Surprisingly Jabeur has the poorest record at the French Open where she should be the strongest and is yet to progress beyond the last 16 at Roland Garros.

If she can continue to progress as she has shown in 2023 then it might just be the year that she breaks through.