THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 15, 2023

Ons Jabeur

Press Conference

M. VONDROUSOVA/O. Jabeur

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference for Ons Jabeur.

Ons, we know this is really hard for you. Just give us your initial quick thoughts on the match.

ONS JABEUR: Yeah, very tough match. I think Marketa played the right match to win this final. Yeah, I'm going to learn from it and hopefully come back stronger.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The Princess of Wales spoke to you afterwards. She gave you a hug as well. What did she say and what does that mean?

ONS JABEUR: Same thing after last year: to encourage me to be strong, to come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon. Obviously she was very nice. She didn't know if she wants to give me a hug or not. I told her hugs are always welcome from me. That was a very nice moment and she's always nice to me.

Q. Were you consulted at all about the closure of the roof? Do you think it had any impact on the match because she'd been playing really well indoors this week?

ONS JABEUR: I honestly didn't focus much on that. But, yeah, I don't know. Maybe it helped her today to play good and put more balls in. I don't know if the roof was open would have been a different story maybe for both of us.

But, yeah, it is what it is. It happened. I'm very happy for her that she won her first Grand Slam. I know she's a player that has been very injured, like, a lot of times. I wish her all the best. Hopefully she can win more Grand Slams.

Q. I believe Kim Clijsters, Chrissie Evert, and Simona Halep all lost their first three Grand Slam finals --

ONS JABEUR: Four actually. We were crying together at the locker room (smiling).

Q. How much inspiration do you take from the fact that great players have been in the position you are now? For someone like Kim to come and take time with you must mean a lot as well.

ONS JABEUR: I love Kim so much. She's a great inspiration for me. I grew up watching her a bit. The fact that she takes the time to give me advice and to really hug me, always be there for me, I think it's priceless.

Yeah, she was telling me all the time she lost four. That's why I know the information, otherwise would have been tough.

But, yeah, that's the positive out of it. You cannot force things. It wasn't meant to be. It wasn't meant to be.

Q. What were you feeling in the minutes before the match as you were walking towards the court? What was going through your mind at that point?

ONS JABEUR: Honestly, I felt a lot of pressure, feeling a lot of stress. But like every final, like every match I played, I was telling myself it's okay, it's normal. I honestly did nothing wrong. I did everything that I could.

But, yeah, I think things take time with me. Again, I said it wasn't meant to be this time. Hopefully I will be like the others that failed couple of times to do it and it will come after.

Q. What do you do when you're on the court to try and fight through that, the stress and the nerves?

ONS JABEUR: A lot of breathing. A lot of positive talks. I tried to tell myself that nothing is over. It's going to get better maybe. I been used to losing the first set in these last two matches, so I hoped maybe it would be better in the next few games.

But obviously not. I don't know. We'll keep doing what I'm doing. We'll keep learning, for sure, because I think that's the key for me.

Q. When you said Marketa played the right match today, what did you mean by that? We saw you had to change your warm-up clothes when you came out. Was that also on your mind this morning?

ONS JABEUR: No, I completely forgot the white rules. When you go into a match court, you just dress up as normal clothes. For me, I completely forget that today I was warming up on Centre Court, it has to be all white. Yeah, I don't know, it was just an honest mistake.

I think Marketa just put the ball in, slices a lot. I believe that it was completely different match from the last three that I had. So maybe adapting to her rhythm was very difficult for me. Plus the pressure and the stress of the final.

I didn't think she made a lot of mistakes. I thought she served good. I think she played maybe a perfect final for herself.

Q. You said it's a new you playing at this year's Wimbledon. You also mentioned you felt pressure and stress. How are you going to cope with that and how are you going to cope with the expectations that continue to grow from your fans?

ONS JABEUR: The same thing that I've been doing the last few years. I've been having more pressure. The more good results that I do, the more pressure I feel.

But it is what it is. Like I said, I cannot force anything right now. It wasn't meant to be. It wasn't. Definitely this match, last year's match, the final of the US Open, will teach me how to win these finals.

Will definitely keep learning, keep being positive. I think that's the thing that will keep me going. Otherwise, if I'm going to be depressed about it, it's not going to help much.

I'll try to stay positive.

Q. You said on court that you felt this was the most painful loss of your career. It's difficult, but can you put into words why it hurts more than the others?

ONS JABEUR: Because I already lost two finals, and this is the third one. I don't know. I felt I was doing everything right. Again, with the same thing that happened last year...

It's painful because you feel so close to achieving something that you want, and actually back to square one. Again, just try to get rid of these negative thoughts and continue being positive.

Q. You said Marketa played the right match today. Does that mean you feel you played the wrong match?

ONS JABEUR: I didn't play good. I didn't think I played good today. So many things that I should have maybe done. Not serving well did not help. Also Marketa returns every ball. Even if I did a good serve, she was there. That didn't help my serve much.

My backhand wasn't here today. Again, I think playing two different players the last few matches did not help, too.

Yeah, I don't think I played good, as well. But that doesn't take away the match that Marketa did.

Q. Despite the loss, you've now been to three of the last five major finals. Other players can't make that claim. What do you think your position is right now in the game?

ONS JABEUR: Yeah, again, that's a positive thing that maybe I should focus on, along being aside of the players that didn't make the Grand Slam the first three finals maybe (smiling).

I think hopefully I will be able to take the confidence out of it and consider myself as a consistent player. Take this experience as good ones, but not bad ones, to continue and improve my game. Be the player that I want to be.

But I know these things, maybe with me will take years. I will go for it, will put enough work for it. For me, my goal is to be really a good, consistent player and (indiscernible) whenever it's going to come, learn from this match for sure, and hopefully I want to be one of the players that could win Grand Slams, not just one (smiling).

Q. You were up 3-1 in both sets. Do you remember changing something at this moment or she was changing something?

ONS JABEUR: I think it's related to the fact that I didn't serve really well. I was able to break both times, but very difficult. I didn't have the feeling I was controlling my serve. I was maybe troubling her little bit. So that's why it was very difficult for me to win that serve game.

Yeah, I wish I was able to hold, especially in the first set. Maybe it could have been a different match.

Q. They were saying on TV that you changed your lock screen to your niece.

ONS JABEUR: Yeah, my niece and nephew.

Q. Any reason you changed from the trophy to your family?

ONS JABEUR: I don't know, the trophy didn't work last year. I always put my niece photo. The nephew is a new member of the family. I needed to add him too. I love them so much. They bring so much joy to me. They give me a lot of love. Seeing them every day on the screen makes me happy.