Ons Jabeur announces pregnancy with first child, former world No. 2 expecting in April 2026 - 'The court will have to wait'
Published 11/11/2025 at 08:45 GMT
Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur has been out of action since July, when she retired in the first round of Wimbledon, and her return to court has been delayed further as she has announced that she is pregnant with her first child. Jabeur - and her husband Karim Kamoun - announced the news on social media. The pair are expecting a baby boy, with his due date in April 2026.
Ons Jabeur
Image credit: Getty Images
Ons Jabeur’s return to the tennis court will be put on hold, as the former world No. 2 has announced that she is expecting her first child.
Jabeur - and her husband Karim Kamoun - shared the news on Instagram with a video of the pair holding a tiny tennis racquet and a Wimbledon babygrow.
"Took a little break to reset and recharge… Turns out, we’ve been planning the cutest comeback ever," she posted.
"The court will have to wait a little longer, because soon…we’ll be welcoming our tiniest teammate. Baby boy joining the team in April."
The announcement has been greeted with much love and support from Jabeur’s fellow pros and tour rivals.
Naomi Osaka responded to the post with her congratulations, Karolina Muchova posted three heart-eye emojis, and Maria Sakkari wrote, "OMG!!!! I’m so happy for you guys."
Jabeur has been out of action since July, when she retired from her opening round match at Wimbledon against Viktoriya Tomova.
The Tunisian was forced to call a medical time out and the match was brought to an end two games into the second set.
After withdrawing, Jabuer said: "For the past two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges.
"But deep down, I haven't truly felt happy on the court for some time now.
"Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living," she said.
Jabeur then decided to step away from the sport and has not returned since.
She had previously spoken of her desire to win a Grand Slam before starting a family and was open about the subject during her appearance in the Netflix documentary series Break Point.
Despite being a two-time Wimbledon finalist and a runner-up at the US Open in 2022, Jabeur is yet to lift a major trophy.
She released a documentary of her own last year, This is Me, where she again linked her desire for success on-court to her family plans.
"It was the toughest loss of my career because emotionally it destroyed me - not only losing Wimbledon, but [feeling like] the idea of having a baby just vanished with the trophy," she said.
Although Jabeur has not been on court since July, she has not been totally absent from the tennis scene.
She made an appearance at the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh - where Elena Rybakina took victory.
Jabeur was there in an ambassadorial role and she confirmed that she is not retiring from the sport, though we now know her return will be delayed.
"My break is going well. I'm discovering life a little bit outside tennis," she told The National.
"I've been busy with different things, the foundation, the academy. I'm trying to maybe launch new projects as well, so it's been fun.
"My life since I was six years old was always focused on my training, my tournaments, tennis.
"I didn't feel like I... even though I did things outside tennis, it was always either tennis related, or if I want to go on vacation, you always need to count the days because you don't want to miss training. You want to go back on time.
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Ons Jabeur at the WTA Finals in Riyadh
Image credit: Getty Images
"I wasn't ever free from tennis. Trying to find something that makes me happy outside tennis was difficult and given the very tough two years that I had, it wasn't easy.
"The happy place, the place where I find my joy suddenly became my sadness and basically became the place that gave me depression.
"And I was kind of scared, and I was thinking like, ‘What if I never find joy on the tennis court ever again?’
"But I don't think that will be the case. And I'm not retiring like most of the people think, I'll be coming back someday."
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