Ons Jabeur's Dreams Of Having Kids Were Put On Hold After This Crushing Match
Ons Jabeur is winning in tennis and love. After making it to the quarter-finals in the French Open, she now has her sights set on Wimbledon, where she lost in the finals last year.
Ons is currently ranked No. 10 in the world, per the WTA. She is the highest-ranking Arab tennis player in history, even reaching the US Open finals in 2022 and the Wimbledon finals in 2022, according to the tennis organization. In 2023, she made it to the championship game but ultimately lost to Markéta Vondroušová.
Tennis fans will remember Ons and her husband Karim Kamoun from the Netflix docuseries Break Point, which followed Ons on her hot streak all the way to her Wimbledon final and ultimate loss. And Karim was by his wife's side every step of the way.
“Yes this one was painful, Yes this one was really tough, Yes this one made me cry like a baby," he wrote on Instagram at the time. “It’s ok to show emotions, emotions are the fuel that will make you stronger, wiser and I’m pretty sure that we are on the right path, it’s coming you just need to believe and keep working hard.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Karim and Ons' sweet marriage.
Karim is a fitness coach and her trainer.
Karim is a strength and conditioning coach with a master’s degree in sports science, per his IG bio. He also became Ons' trainer halfway through the 2017 season, according to GQ Middle East. The transition from husband and wife to trainer and player was a bit challenging, however.
"At the beginning, it was tough, and he knows that," Ons shared with the magazine in 2020. " Because we're not used to working with each other, and for him to ask me to go to run, it was kind of like an order and I didn't like it at the beginning. If he was throwing the medicine ball wrong or something, I would make a scandal for something very small.”
“After that, we got used to it," she continued. "I think we're doing a great job. We talked a lot for sure, we fought a lot, but after that, I think we got good results."
He used to be a pro fencer.
Karim was a professional fencer from 2003 to 2011, and worked as a fencing coach in Qatar after his career ended, according to the magazine. During his time fencing, he won two medals, a silver and a bronze, according to the International Fencing Federation.
Karim left his coaching gig in 2017 to train his wife.
They got married in 2015.
While it’s not clear how they met, Ons and Karim got married in 2015. For their wedding, Ons wore a lace gown and braided headband, while Karim wore a tux.
"Happy to announce that me and Karim just got married," she wrote at the time, adding that she's "#happy."
Happy To annouce that me and Karim just got married ❤️ #Happy 😘 pic.twitter.com/6f8vNZcSAU
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) November 1, 2015
They complement one another.
Ons tends to take the competition quite seriously. But Karim helps her find the fun in traveling around the world for work, she said.
"I did so many things that I never do alone, the touristic things that I hate so much, and he loves it so much and I sacrifice myself to go and do that,” she shared with GQ. “Like the Statue of Liberty. I went to the US six years in a row and I never went there, but then he took me there the first year he comes with me to the US."
They also know each other super well, as evidenced by this couples' game they completed on behalf of the WTA.
He’s her biggest support on the road.
Karim is Ons’s biggest hype man, both as a husband and a coach. He’s always gassing her up in IG posts and cheering her on the sidelines.
“I want to continue with this. I have the team that I’ve wanted to have from a long time ago, and since I have it, it’s my stability now,” Ons shared with GQ. “I just want to go forward, achieve my level, which will achieve my ranking, and then I want to get a Grand Slam. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I’m going forward for that."
After a particularly disappointing loss at the 2024 French Open, Karim was right there to support his wife with an inspirational message.
“Thank you @onsjabeur and congratulations for the great week. Keep dreaming and inspiring. Always behind you. Never give up ❤️ #trueleader 💪🏻” he captioned his IG.
Their relationship isn't all about tennis.
While tennis is obviously a big focus for this couple, they have other hobbies as well! The pair loves to bike ride together....
And to watch soccer. They even attended the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Of course, like any couple of a certain age, they hit the occasional wedding, as well:
This is definitely purpose: Since they're so focused on tennis, Ons says they have to separate work and play sometimes.
"On the court, I see him as my trainer, and outside the court, he is my husband," Ons told Vogue Arabia. "We still have to make sure we have moments together as a couple."
Does Ons Jabeur have children?
No, Ons and Karim don’t have any kids. Ons said her dreams of having a child were put on pause after he crushing loss at Wimbledon 2023.
"People think I have this pressure because I want to do it for other people, which is not true," she said in the documentary This Is Me, per The Sun. "I win that Wimbledon final, I could have a baby right away. And that dream faded."
Best of luck this summer, Ons!
You Might Also Like
