Ons Jabeur has joked that she is ‘pretending to be Cristiano Ronaldo’ at Wimbledon this year – and has welcomed the possibility of investment from Saudi Arabia into tennis.
Jabeur, a Wimbledon finalist in 2022, booked her place in the second round of this year’s tournament on Tuesday with a 6-3 6-3 win over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
The Tunisian paid tribute to Portuguese football superstar Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League, in her on-court interview when asked about her love of grass courts.
‘I played a lot of football on grass, I love football so much,’ Jabeur said.
‘It’s amazing to come back here, the grass is so beautiful. I love connecting with the nature and seeing all the flowers everywhere.
‘Maybe I pretend to be Cristiano Ronaldo playing here!’
Jabeur threw her support behind potential Saudi investment in tennis when asked about the ATP and WTA’s recent talks with the Middle Eastern country, despite others raising concerns over sportswashing.
‘I think is a completely different situation than golf,’ she added. ‘If it benefits for the player, I’m 100% there. Again, I said, and I hope in Saudi they will not just invest with ATP, I hope with WTA.
‘I believe in Saudi they’re doing great giving women more rights. It’s time to change things. Believe it or not, we have the best two women in [the] Arabic world right now playing in tennis. It’s now or never. I hope they really invest in WTA.’
MORE : British No.1 Cam Norrie reacts to his opening Wimbledon victory
MORE : ‘Sign me up!’ – Nick Kyrgios wants Saudi tennis investment after ATP-PIF talks
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