Any Other Ons Jabeur Fans Still Struggling With The Final?

[Lozo1016]

That felt like a particularly tough loss for a player to bounce back from. I don't want this to be a 2004 RG Coria or 2009 Wimbledon Roddick situation where the player really never recovers. Let's look at her 2022 press conference after her loss to Rybakina and 2023 press conference after the loss to Vondrousova. Doesn't take long to notice a difference.

2022:

2023:

2022 is an Ons that's disappointed, but fairly positive. 2023 is an Ons that's heartbroken.

It felt like she was beaten before the match started. There was the whole bizarre situation where she was trying to practice on Centre Court the morning before the match while she was wearing all black, and got sent back to the locker room to change by the organizers. for violating the all-white rules. When she was asked about it after the match, she says just forgot. She was also apparently 8 minutes ahead of schedule for the pre-final Wimbledon walk (according to ESPN), which was also kinda odd? The vibes were off before the match and it felt like her mind was in a weird space.

And then the actual match was just a nightmare. 45% of her first serves in and 48% of 1st serve points won. Up 3-1 in both sets and wilted in each of them. It was not the same dynamo who beat 4 Slam champs to make the final. Vondrousova played well and she's an awesome player, but Ons didn't make her work for it.

She emphasized how she was feeling stress and pressure. I'm not sure what to do with that, because that's not going away. She has a small team, but one of the most prominent members of her team is her mental coach Melanie Maillard. Maillard has clearly done some great work over the past year-plus, but she's got a tough task ahead. I also wonder what needs to change if your sports psychologist has helped you climb to new heights, but your mentality is still so shaky in the matches you want to win the most.

I just hope Jabeur can come back stronger like Novotna, Halep, and Clijsters, and rise to the occasion the next time she has the opportunity.

 

[ibbi]

The sad thing for her is that after all the disappointment of last year, she DID come back stronger.

I'm not sure the last time I have seen a WTA player play matches like her QF and SF on back-to-back days against probably the two favourites for the title. These were not beatdowns like we saw from Justine in New York in 07, these were tightly contested battles where she lost the first, worked her way back in, and basically ended up winning going away by the conclusion.

It really seemed like the mental hurdle that has long been in her way for years now was well and truly cleared.

Until it became obvious it wasn't.

There is the possibility that it was just Marketa's game, not her favourite, as evidenced by Australia and Indian Wells, but I think that would be very generous.

How much stronger can a player come back after that one? Obviously, it has been done before, many times. Time will tell. It'll take a hell of a mental effort more than anything.

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

It sure is an extremely painful loss, this is not the point of the thread, but overall I have extremely mixed feelings about how the women’s tournament turned out.

On one hand, Ons played two unbelievable matches back to back to beat two clear contenders for the title (Rybakina and Sabalenka) displaying fantastic level of play. On the other hand, Vondrousova, while playing well, mostly kept facing opponents who completely crumbled/ didn't play anywhere near their best level, starting R2 with Kudermetova who is simply one of the biggest headcases on tour, doing well most of the year but failing big time in slams, then Vekic who was exhausted physically and mentally after playing a grueling match against Stephens the day before (while Vekic played fantastic tennis in Berlin), Pegula in the QF who once again didn't bring her best in a slam QF, and ofc Svitolina and Jabeur who were just awful.

So while I am really happy for Vondrousova, I just can't really say that I have been that impressed by her level of play, while Ons was just playing scintillating tennis before the final. It's dumb but I can't help thinking that Vondrousova would have probably been routined by Rybakina/Sabalenka or even Swiatek (who also completely fell apart). So yeah Ons's match in the final was just so frustrating on so many levels for me, kind of turning the whole tournament into a mess, on top of being heartbreaking because Ons seems to be such a sweetheart.

 

[Airspun]

Happens to us all but she choked at the absolute worst time in her career. Netflix curse ftw

 

[TennisXpert@2023]

Only thing they are struggling with is thinking she was the favorite.

 

[Mainad]

Like Svitolina she put far too much pressure on herself (I'm playing for my country, I'm playing for Africa" nonsense). Hopefully both will learn from those mistakes and be a lot less emotional and more focussed if they find themselves in a similar situation again.

 

[Rafa.the.Magnificent]

I don’t follow Jabeur so don’t know much about her, but I watched her play a phenomenal semi match which showed me what she can do, and I was quite impressed. And then, the final came along. Watching her make unforced error after error, I was pretty much dumbfounded. I did see that she wore her emotions on her sleeve and I just kept thinking, “forget the last point and play your game, shake off all that negativity,” but it seems she was unable to. It was an awful performance. I do want to give credit to Vondrousova, who deserves the credit and deserved the win, but still, Jabeur truly imploded mentally.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Very much so

Jabeur is my favourite player on tour so it was brutal to watch.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

My main hope is that Jabeur can follow in Halep's footsteps who lost her first 3 slam finals (and actually choked way more in them). Halep actually won the very next slam after losing her 3rd slam final.

Halep was runner up at the 2018 Aus Open, won 2018 French Open over Sloane.

And we know Jabeur can do well at the US Open as she made the final last year!

 

[jl809]

Yeah I’ll say it, I’m gutted for Ons and especially because it felt totally on her racket whether she won that final or not. Vondrousova is a bit of a pusher who has pulled off a classic WTA title win here, and I’d far rather Ons had lost to Andreescu or Rybakina than to go down to her and do so in that way

 

[Airspun]

Yeah I’ll say it, I’m gutted for Ons and especially because it felt totally on her racket whether she won that final or not. Vondrousova is a bit of a pusher who has pulled off a classic WTA title win here, and I’d far rather Ons had lost to Andreescu or Rybakina than to go down to her and do so in that way

Not a pusher she’s a Wimbledon champion

 

[Oval_Solid]

jabeur probably didnt prepared properly by getting use to a lefty
Marketa have a big loopy lefty forehand thats not easy to handle if youre not use to it
the other thing is jabeur seems to start sulking when things dont go her way
jabeur wants to play perfect rf tennis instead scramble tennis

 

[beltsman]

That felt like a particularly tough loss for a player to bounce back from. I don't want this to be a 2004 RG Coria or 2009 Wimbledon Roddick situation where the player really never recovers. Let's look at her 2022 press conference after her loss to Rybakina and 2023 press conference after the loss to Vondrousova. Doesn't take long to notice a difference.

2022:

2023:

2022 is an Ons that's disappointed, but fairly positive. 2023 is an Ons that's heartbroken.

It felt like she was beaten before the match started. There was the whole bizarre situation where she was trying to practice on Centre Court the morning before the match while she was wearing all black, and got sent back to the locker room to change by the organizers. for violating the all-white rules. When she was asked about it after the match, she says just forgot. She was also apparently 8 minutes ahead of schedule for the pre-final Wimbledon walk (according to ESPN), which was also kinda odd? The vibes were off before the match and it felt like her mind was in a weird space.

And then the actual match was just a nightmare. 45% of her first serves in and 48% of 1st serve points won. Up 3-1 in both sets and wilted in each of them. It was not the same dynamo who beat 4 Slam champs to make the final. Vondrousova played well and she's an awesome player, but Ons didn't make her work for it.

She emphasized how she was feeling stress and pressure. I'm not sure what to do with that, because that's not going away. She has a small team, but one of the most prominent members of her team is her mental coach Melanie Maillard. Maillard has clearly done some great work over the past year-plus, but she's got a tough task ahead. I also wonder what needs to change if your sports psychologist has helped you climb to new heights, but your mentality is still so shaky in the matches you want to win the most.

I just hope Jabeur can come back stronger like Novotna, Halep, and Clijsters, and rise to the occasion the next time she has the opportunity.

She's a histrionic headcase.

 

[Airspun]

She's a histrionic headcase.

I think it is a positronic headcase like Data you mean?

 

[40Deuce]

Am I the only one who thought she didn't look like she had a strategy in the final? She kept looking up to her coaches for something, for some answer. Vondrousova however from her body language looked like she was committed to a way of playing and believed in it.

Ons against Rybakina and Sabalenka was taking the ball early, jumping on second serves and generally trying to land the first blow in the point. Against anyone that's a good offensive tactic. Come the final she did it now and then not often enough which I don't understand because it was effective when she was in trouble in games when down in the score.

She good enough has the talent to win a slam. However the way she played the final she didn't deserve to win. Then there was all those failed drop shots which either landed in the net or Vondrousova ran down and hit winners off them. When the drop shots are ineffective and you're tense it's a good idea to try something else.

 

[insideoutforehands]

I am struggling in that her general performance in each slam final has generally gotten worse. None of the 3 has been up to her potential really, but the 1st was still the best one so far. This is a disturbing pattern, and speaks to the extra pressures she is probably feeling on herself that someone spoke of in another thread- feeling she is playing for her country, her religion, her ethnicity, along with the mounting pressure any player who has lost numerous finals starts to feel, but she has a bunch more attached to that. I hope she wins one soon, as the more finals she loses, the harder it will get for her unfortunately.

 

[insideoutforehands]

Like Svitolina she put far too much pressure on herself (I'm playing for my country, I'm playing for Africa" nonsense). Hopefully both will learn from those mistakes and be a lot less emotional and more focussed if they find themselves in a similar situation again.

Svitolina's window is up anyway I think, and has arguably been for about 3 years now, despite somehow reaching Wimbledon semis as a wild card. I guess in the current chaotic WTA (although it is finally finding a power structure again as we speak)anything is possible, but really don't think winning a slam is even an idea for her anymore, despite her recent out of nowhere, surprising, mini resurgence.

You are totally right on Ons though, and Svitolina back in the years she actually was still a contender like 2017-2021.

 

[tex123]

No.

I've given up after her chokes. She needs beta blockers or a glass of beer to calm her nerves before the final.

 

[MrFlip]

She sucked the life out of the ceremony. More to losing than just not winning.

 

[adil1972]

My 2 favorite players both 2023 WB RU ie jabeur / djok on 2 consecutive days

Jabeur should try Brad Gilbert for change, after all he guided agassi into successful player

 

[Lozo1016]

jabeur probably didnt prepared properly by getting use to a lefty
Marketa have a big loopy lefty forehand thats not easy to handle if youre not use to it
the other thing is jabeur seems to start sulking when things dont go her way
jabeur wants to play perfect rf tennis instead scramble tennis

I was worried about this during the tournament because Jabeur's record against lefties is pretty average. But when she destroyed Kvitova in the 4th round, I felt more confident about it.

 

[tennisjedi]

I still believe she can get a slam.
It's clearly a mental problem for her. Ons needs to find a way to handle her nerves in a slam final.

 

[aus89]

I think Ons is a bit like Mauresmo - she'll win a couple eventually she just has to get it together between the ears

 

[DSH]

A lot of pressure on herself.
It seems that she has not been able to control the nerves of being in a GS final and display her best tennis.
She has not been able to take advantage of her experience over her rival, who was debuting in a Major tournament definition but who felt more comfortable with the role of underdog.

 

[AmericanTwist]

I like Ons but I like many WTA pros... I will say that her mentioning revenge (or maybe it was the journalists...) is not the right thing to focus on. Rather, concentrate on playing the best you can while being flexible and find ways to win even when your current strategy, strokes are not working that well or as well as you thought. Vondrousova is no push over. Prior to the match I thought she would win over Ons because her game is just superior to my eye. Someday Ons will win a major. It will be either on clay or grass where her game translates best. As all of us know tennis margins are super thin. One point here and there is all the difference in the world.

 

[Underdog]

Count me in. I like her very much and this loss was heartbreaking.

 

[FRV4]

I don’t watch any of her matches really. But I do want her to win. I expected her losses to Swiatek and even Rybakina somewhat but this last one surprised me a bit… well I mean it would have. Actually, I wasn’t following wta much.

 

[MissileBackHand99]

My heart broke for her as the match played out. It was so tough seeing her in the post match interview, she was devastated. I thought she would beat Vondrousova, but Ons was just so off in that Final. Spraying groundstrokes everywhere, and seemingly just not as locked in mentally as she usually is. Definitely wanna see her win at SW19 at some point

 

[Lozo1016]

I appreciate that she fought through illness at the US Open, but she never really had a shot at this title in her condition. Sucks to see her not at her best during a major because you only get so many chances to win a slam.

 

[Federev]

That Wimbledon final must feel even more crushing now. Like - that felt like such an opportunity lost.

Of course the fact that her competitor that day is still cruising at least takes away from the sense it was a fluke.

But I’m afraid the window is closing because on Ons.

I hope she gets a major before she hangs it up.

 

[Nostradamus]

lets admit it she's not good enough

 

[40Deuce]

Is she blaming nerves again? Ons is a player who payed no attention during basic training because she could do the fancy stuff no problem. Though only when she's on enough to play the low percentage game.

It's all mostly baseline tennis now due to court conditions and Ons doesn't deploy a basic reliable rally game as a foundation to build on during matches. She might get lucky sometime in a slam and play all 7 matches entirely in the zone in which case she won't need a basic game and basic rally shots. However the chances of that happening all 7 matches is low.