Arab star Jabeur mulls swapping rackets for dancing shoes in lockdown

Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur is holed up in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic and says she is contemplating taking up dancing to remain fit as the tennis world finds innovative ways to deal with the lockdown.

The 25-year-old became the first Tunisian and the first Arab woman to make a Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2020 Australian Open in Melbourne, where she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin of the United States.

She also reached the last eight of the Qatar Open in Doha and is currently on a career-high world ranking of 39.

But her rapid rise has been somewhat checked with the tennis season currently suspended until at least mid July with both the claycourt season and grasscourt events wiped out due to the coronavirus-induced travel restrictions.

“I’m not allowed to eat much as I’m not moving much,” a smiling Jabeur said in a video interview posted on the official Australian Open Twitter handle.

“I like to dance, maybe it’s time for me to do some dancing in the apartment. Hopefully the neighbours will not kick us out. But for now we are good. Cooking is for my husband. Watching lots of films is what we do right now, eating some popcorn also.”

Over 336,000 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus and more than 9,500 have died in the United States, according to a Reuters tally, with New York the worst affected.

Jabeur could not make her way back home to Tunisia with countries locking down their borders and imposing travel restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.

In the meantime, she is running a social media challenge for fans in Tunisia, asking them to send videos featuring tennis at home. Jabeur said she is receiving lot of funny videos and the winner will win one of her rackets.

“I’m kind of stuck in US but maybe I love being stuck here. I’m just here with my husband, who also happens to be my fitness coach,” she said. “He’s trying to make me work out.

“The only thing we are missing is practising tennis. That’s the only thing we are not doing right now.”

Meanwhile, the world’s top tennis players will swap rackets for game controllers this month after organisers of the cancelled Madrid Open said they will stage a virtual competition to raise funds for struggling professionals amid the coronavirus shutdown.

The tennis season was halted in early March due to the pandemic, leaving players in the lower tiers, who solely depend on tournament winnings, without any chance to earn a living.

The men’s ATP Tour and the WTA, which runs the women’s circuit, suspended all tournaments until at least mid-July after countries started locking down their borders.

The Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA Premier Mandatory event in early May featuring total prize money of $8.3 million, was one of the events called off.

However, the tournament will now take place on the tennis World Tour videogame and run from April 27-30, “with the world’s biggest tennis stars squaring off from their own homes,” the ATP Tour said https://www.atptour.com/en/news/online-tournament-madrid-2020.

“We have organised a tournament for the professional players that is as true to the conventional Mutua Madrid Open as possible, without them having to leave their homes,” Madrid Open director Feliciano Lopez said in a statement.

“And its goal is not just to entertain; we want to do our bit during this period, which is so difficult for everyone.”

With sport across the world virtually at a standstill due the spread of the novel coronavirus, some have gone online to raise funds and provide entertainment for fans. La Liga organised an online soccer tournament recently while Formula One has also held virtual races.

The online tennis tournament, which has yet to confirm participants, will have 16 men’s and women’s singles players in each draw and offer a purse of 150,000 euros ($162,000) for both.

Reuters