Ons Jabeur 'avoids risk' by missing Paris Olympics

Three-time Grand Slam runner up Ons Jabeur said on Monday she will sit out this summer's Paris Olympics to avoid further injury to her knee.

Tunisian Jabeur, 29, will miss the Games, between 27 July and 4 August. The competition being played Roland-Garros, meaning a switch back to clay immediately after the grass season and before the hard-court run up to the US Open.

Last year Jabeur underwent surgery on her right knee.

"After consulting with my medical team regarding attending to the Olympics in Paris, we have decided that the quick change of surface and the body's adaptation required would put my knee at risk and jeapordize the rest of my season," Jabeur said on her social media accounts.

"Unfortunately I will not be able to participate in the 2024 Olympics," she added.

Jabeur reached the final at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023 and at the US Open in 2022. She competed at the Olympics in London in 2012, in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo five years later.

Wimbledon starts on July 1 with the US Open beginning on August 26.

Earlier in the day, world number three Aryna Sabalenka said she would also miss the Olympics to protect her fitness.

© Al-Araby Al-Jadeed