The tennis world has rallied around Ons Jabeur after the Tunisian announced her decision to step away from professional tennis. The Tunisian star’s emotional post has drawn support from fellow players including Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Sloane Stephens, and several others who understand the challenges of professional tennis.
Tennis Community Shows Support for Ons Jabeur’s Decision
Jabeur announced her hiatus in a heartfelt social media post on July 17, 2025, stating she needed to “take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living”. The 30-year-old explained that despite pushing herself hard for the past two years, she hadn’t “felt happy on court for some time now.”
View this post on Instagram
The response from the tennis community has been overwhelming. Paula Badosa expressed her love and support, stating:
“Habibi! I love you and I’m going to miss you so much.”
Fellow players Mirra Andreeva showed her support with heart emojis, while Billie Jean King offered encouragement by saying:
“Sending you our support and wishing you a healing break. You’ll return stronger than ever.”
Monica Puig praised Jabeur’s strength, calling her “such a fighter” and a “role model to young kids everywhere”. Amanda Anisimova simply wrote, “We love you” with a heart emoji while Sloane Stephens added her support by saying:
“Sending my love and the biggest hugs.”
Coco Gauff also responded to Jabeur’s announcement on social media, penning a few heart emojis.
❤️❤️❤️
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) July 17, 2025
Another fellow tennis player, Taylor Townsend showed support by uploading Jabeur’s post on her Instagram story and writing:
“Love you @onsjabeur”.
Ons Jabeur’s Recent Struggles and Similar Breaks By Other Players
Jabeur’s decision comes after a series of physical and mental challenges that have affected her performance. The former world No. 2 has been dealing with asthma and experienced breathing difficulties during tournaments, including at the 2025 Australian Open. Her season took a dramatic turn at Wimbledon when she was forced to retire from her first-round match against Viktoriya Tomova while trailing 7-6, 2-0. She had to take a 14-minute medical timeout and was seen crying on court before ultimately withdrawing.
Jabeur’s struggles mirror those of other players who have taken breaks from tennis. Amanda Anisimova stepped away from the sport in May 2023 after announcing she was “struggling with mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022.” The American described tournaments as having become “unbearable” and took an eight-month break to focus on her mental well-being.
During her time away, Anisimova explored art and music, even selling paintings to raise funds for mental health charities. She returned to tennis in 2024 and remarkably reached the Wimbledon final in 2025.
