Tunisia’s Pime Minister Najla Bouden Ramadhane welcomed tennis star Ons Jabeur at the Kasbah Palace. It was a historic moment – the Arab world’s first female head of state welcoming the first Arab player to break into the Top 10 in world rankings.

The event was also attended by Kamel Deguiche, Minister of Youth and Sports, and Jabeur’s husband Karim Kamoun. Najla Bouden congratulated Ons Jabeur for her incredible accomplishments. She said that Jabeur is a good role model for Tunisia’s youth. Jabuer told Najla Bouden that she would continue to work hard and strive to be world number one in tennis.

At the 2020 Australian Open, Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the quarterfinals. She repeated that accomplishment at the 2021 Wimbledon championships. She became the first Arab woman to win a title when she won the Birmingham Classic title in 2021. She is currently ranked number 8 in the world.

Even as a junior, Jabeur was a trailblazer. She won the 2011 girls’ singles title, becoming the first North African woman to do so. She also became the first Arab to win a girls’ title in almost 55 years.

Australian coach Craig Tyzzer has been coaching Ashleigh Barty since 2016. Tyzzer, who is in his 60s, played professional tennis between 1979 and 1983. He won the WTA Coach of the Year in 2019.

In 2016, Ashleigh Barty returned to tennis after a hiatus from the game to play cricket. That’s when her coaching relationship with Tyzzer started. Starting at the lower tier events, Barty quickly found her gear under Tyzzer’s tutelage and started climbing up the rankings.

She has won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during her partnership with Tyzzer. When Barty took a 11-month break from tennis due to COVID-19, Tyzzer arranged matches for Barty against male tennis players to keep her competitive.

When asked what impressed him most about Ashleigh Barty, Tyzzer said:

I think the fact that she’s just been able to compete non-stop, like she’s actually put herself in situations and just competed point by point. I don’t feel like she got ahead of herself – maybe once. But she’s just been able to nail that side of it where she’s just competed point by point every match, played it on its merits, and it’s worked for her.

Barty likes stability in her team. Even when things are not going her way, she believes in the team that is supporting her.