MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 8, 2022

Ons Jabeur

Press Conference

O. JABEUR/J. Pegula

7-5, 0-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions for our champion.

Q. Congratulations. How does it feel to be a WTA 1000 champion? What were your emotions when you won that last point and sank to the ground and hurt your knees?

ONS JABEUR: I thought I was playing on grass. It was much easier on grass.

I honestly still can't believe it. I went through a roller coaster of emotions during the past few days, just after the semifinal. I was really stressed trying to breathe like a pregnant woman (smiling).

You know, I really didn't want to get disappointed again. I was doing a lot of work with Melanie. She was helping me a lot. I thought my heart was going out of my chest today. Plus I was so impatient to go play, and for some reason, the match before us, it took longer than expected, so, like, it doesn't help, you know, my patience.

So glad that I came back from 6-0, because it was really tough. She was really good, putting a lot of pressure, playing kind of the game that I don't like.

But, yeah, as soon as I was 30-Love down on my serve, I was, like, Of course you want to make it tougher. Of course you want to suffer here. You don't want to just finish like an easy game.

When I was like I had the match point, I was, like, I had to win it, you know, from the beginning, otherwise it's going to be very tough for me. But I'm very happy and trying to realize that I won today really.

Q. Congratulations. Last month you showed a lot of frustration with your loss in Charleston, and you said that your time will come. Did you expect that to come so fast, especially in a tournament so big like Madrid?

ONS JABEUR: Not so fast, but I know that I was playing good. I knew that it had to come like not now on clay, to be honest with you, I was more excited about the grass season, but I'm so happy that I didn't wait long, because I was really disappointed like after Charleston and Stuttgart. You know, I was really close and I know I was playing really good there.

But I have been doing a lot of hard work to see that it's paying off. I cannot describe how I feel right now.

Q. Congrats for the title. Besides that you are a champion right now, you always bring a bag of tricks on court. You're one of the most enjoyable players to watch on WTA Tour. Is that an additional pleasure for you?

ONS JABEUR: Yeah, especially when the dropshots, the good shots work. I think it helps me a lot with my game. It reflects a lot my personality. I like to have fun.

I don't like to play the same shot all the time, so I hope I can continue, be more free on the court and kind of show the real game that I want to show and entertain people (smiling).

Q. What did it mean for you that your siblings were here? When did you decide to ask them to come, or did they tell you, We are coming? Talk about that a bit.

ONS JABEUR: We talked about it a little bit before, actually arriving to semi. I was winning. They were, like, Should we come, should we come to Rome?

As soon as I am in the semifinal, my sister and brother were like, so, should we come? I was like, I don't know. Just let me think about it.

I'm a little bit superstitious. I was like, I did everything good last finals. Maybe your support will help me win this one, you know.

I've got to say I was more excited to see my niece, but I didn't tell them that, but I think it was the right decision to tell them to come. My brother was trying to prove that he was right, because he was telling me, Remember I came last time in juniors and you won, and the other tournament and you won, so I'm kind of your lucky charm. I'm like, Okay, sure, just come.

Q. Just on today's match, can you just talk through the roller coasters of the match in and of themselves, momentum shift, and what do you think was the key to closing it?

ONS JABEUR: To be honest with you, I wasn't playing like freely. I wasn't doing my shots, the shots that I wanted, but in my mind, I was like, I don't care, play bad but win, you know.

It was frustrating at the beginning because I had breakpoints, a lot of them, and I couldn't convert, and then as soon as she had one, she was able to convert. I tried to stay calm and come back, you know, to the game and everything.

Pretty happy that I end up winning the first set. Otherwise it would have been very difficult for me. She had great momentum the second set. I cannot say much, but at the same time, I wasn't being patient enough with her shots. I could have stayed like longer with the rallies or tried to put the ball in, but I know she was playing really great.

Third set I was trying to change a little bit the momentum, trying to at least put one more ball in, and, yeah, I got the break in the beginning. I was like, Come on, Ons, you have to hold your serve. Of course I didn't hold it after, but I'm glad that I got the break later.

After, I was like, No matter what you do, just don't lose your serve. It was tricky moments there. I felt like even my body language was much better the third set. I was trying to go more forward and be able to back her shots, because she was really playing good.

But I expected that from Jess. She can play really great like that. I'm glad that I was like able to cover the third set.

Q. I know you have big goals. You are back now to No. 7 in the world. You said you want to crack top 5. How much confidence do you get from this tournament heading to Roland Garros? Even though the conditions are different, you have won more clay matches this season than anybody else. I'm just wondering what kind of mindset would you approach that?

ONS JABEUR: Yeah, definitely those matches will give me a lot of confidence. I'm just going to try to take as much points as I can in Rome. I know I didn't play last year, so it's extra points for me.

You know, when you're confident like that and you win a lot of matches, I think I should take this opportunity to go like really forward and win. I have to make sure I recover well, because I don't have a lot of time in between.

Plus I play Cirstea, so it's not easy first round there. I was checking the draw last night. I was like, Oh, no, I didn't get the bye. I was kind of angry. I was trying to focus more on the final or pretend that this final is the first round in Rome, you know (smiling).

But honestly, I'm just going to continue playing this way. I love this period, this week. Conditions probably are different in Rome, so I'm telling you I have to be smart in Rome. I have to really take my opportunity, because I don't have any defending points and I'm going there. I'm going to do my best to go as far as I can in this tournament and of course prepare for the biggest challenge, French Open.

Q. Before your match, Thibaut Courtois was here. I don't know if you saw him or not?

ONS JABEUR: No.

Q. You didn't?

ONS JABEUR: I didn't. Oh, man, I didn't know.

Q. Right before your match, yeah.

ONS JABEUR: He watched Alcaraz and Djokovic and then left, of course?

No, but respect for him, because for me, it was the man of the match last time, so yeah. Well, next time maybe someone else will come and watch me.