There was real excitement at the Australian Open in January when Ons Jabeur became the first north African player to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since Morocco’s Hicham Arazi at the same event in 2004.
She did so by defeating former world number one Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, in what was her final tennis match before retirement.
The 26-year-old also became the first African woman in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer at the 2001 Australian Open.
While Covid-19 certainly stopped the Tunisian’s run, another African made headlines across the tennis world for her open letter to one of the sport’s top players.
In May, Algeria’s Ines Ibbou was hailed as a ”hero” by Venus Williams while earning the word “respect” from Nick Kyrgios, after posting an emotional video addressed to World No. 3 Dominic Thiem – a result of his opposition to the idea of a coronavirus relief fund for lower-ranked players, proposed by Novak Djokovic.
The Austrian had said that no lower-ranked players ”will be fighting to survive” during the Covid-19 crises, adding that some of them “don’t live in a professional manner” for him to contribute his money towards.
Reacting to this, the former ITF Junior champion said that his words were ”hurtful” – and the heartfelt message went viral, with even Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pledging support to the 21-year-old on Twitter.
