Ons Jabeur shares what makes her rivalry with Aryna Sabalenka unique

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Ons Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, is currently away from tennis to focus on her personal life.

The former world number two from Tunisia announced the break in May 2025, explaining that she needed to ‘put herself first’ after playing through injuries for nearly two years.

During her time on Tour, Jabeur played in some of the biggest matches of recent years, including the 2022 US Open final against Iga Swiatek.

Jabeur has also faced current world number one Aryna Sabalenka six times, with their most recent meeting at the 2023 Cincinnati Open.

Speaking about their rivalry earlier this year, Jabeur spoke about how difficult it is to play against someone with so much power.

Ons Jabeur admits her head-to-head with Aryna Sabalenka is ‘crazy’

“She hits very hard. You can see the stats, how fast she hits,” Jabeur said while talking to Kim Clijsters on the Love All Podcast.

“The thing with her, you’re afraid to give her an easy ball, that she’s going to smack and kill you with it, so you end up forcing it, taking more risks, and missing out.

“For me, it’s crazy because she doesn’t like to play me, and I don’t like to play her. So whoever is there to play her game is the one who is going to win.

Clijsters shared a perspective about Jabeur’s ability against Sabalenka: “With you, I feel like when you played her, you were able to take over her speed very well.

“I feel the more you played her, the better you got in control; even when she was dominating the points, you were able to stay with your backhand pace and wait for the right moment.”

Jabeur responded: “Trusting my game also more. Being able to say I can hit with them – it’s fine.”

Their most recent meeting took place at the 2023 Cincinnati Open.

Aryna Sabalenka kicks off 2026 with impressive run

Sabalenka has started her 2026 season strongly, despite being handed a difficult draw in her opening tournament.

The Belarusian began the year with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over Cristina Bucsa at the Brisbane International.

She followed that up with a solid performance on Thursday, beating Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

Next up for Sabalenka is Madison Keys, who beat her in last year’s Australian Open final. But in their most recent meeting at Indian Wells in March, Sabalenka came out on top with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 win.