Ons Jabeur, who previously reached the Wimbledon finals twice, suffered an early and disappointing exit this year. The Tunisian tennis player, who has publicly criticized Israel — including in a recent interview before the tournament — was eliminated in the first round after facing Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova.
Jabeur did not complete the match, retiring mid-game due to injury. The match ended with the score 7:6, 2:0 in favor of the Bulgarian, continuing a difficult period for the Tunisian athlete.
In a pre-tournament interview, Jabeur commented on the situation in Gaza: “My heart goes out to them because the situation is getting worse and worse. I feel like people are forgetting about them. I hope the world wakes up and gives them food or something. I feel like no one is doing anything.”
Jabeur did not stop at general sympathy and added direct criticism of the war: “My heart breaks for the children, the women, the men. Not only are they being killed, they’re being starved. It’s very inhumane. We’re in 2025 and the world hasn’t changed. It’s very sad. I hope it stops.”
Jabeur notably did not mention the Israeli hostages held for over 600 days in Hamas captivity, or the horrific massacres on October 7 that started the war and included the slaughter of children and babies.
Wimbledon, considered the most prestigious tennis tournament and one of the sport’s four Grand Slam events, opened Monday in London.
