Ons Jabeur makes honest admission about her 'baby fever' & difficulty of balancing motherhood and tennis

Ons Jabeur recently opened up about her wish to have a baby and weighed in on the struggles of balancing motherhood and tennis career. The Tunisian had put her plans to have a kid on hold following her 2023 Wimbledon final defeat.

Jabeur recently appeared on the 'Nothing Major' podcast, where she discussed various aspects of her life, including motherhood and her tennis career. She has reached three Grand Slam finals, including the US Open and two times at Wimbledon; however, she has yet to clinch a major title.

Revealing how she had 'baby fever' after 2021, the Tunisian said that as an athlete, it was very difficult to make personal decisions such as having children.

"Athletes in general, it is tough to take the decision. And I think after COVID, I kind of had like a baby fever. I was like, okay, maybe it's time. And then, I don't know, it's going to take time to come back and play tennis. But at the same time, I was playing really good and I was kind of achieving top ten. And it was a very difficult decision," Ons Jabeur said. (19:24 onwards)

Reiterating her desire to have children someday, she added:

"But I love kids so much, and definitely I want to be a mother one day. And you know, everything happens for a reason. Everything happens in their own time. It wasn't meant to be for me to be a mother before. And I'm sure it will happen very soon.”

Jabeur concluded her Australian Open campaign on January 18, losing to Emma Navarro in the third round.

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Ons Jabeur opened up about talking to Tatjana Maria about motherhood

The five-time WTA Tour singles titles winner, Ons Jabeur- Source: Getty

On the aforementioned podcast, Ons Jabeur was also asked if she has spoken to any other tennis players who are mothers and are still competing. Answering this, the player said that she spoke to the German tennis player, Tatjana Maria, who has two children, Charlotte, who was born in 2013 and Cecilia, born in 2021. Jabeur said that Maria made pregnancy look easy, and she was really inspired by how she made a comeback on the tour as a mother.

“Definitely. I have spoken to Tatiana Maria. She has two kids. For me, she's a really great example for any mother to come back on tour. She made pregnancy look so easy. She was four months pregnant, and she was playing at Wimbledon. That was nuts, you know. So, definitely every mother has a different experience," Ons Jabeur said. (20:13 onwards)

She further spoke about Maria's daughter, Charlotte, who is 11 and a tennis player. Jabeur spoke about how she admired her for her tennis skills and revealed that Charlotte practices more than her. Commending her skills, the Tunisian player said:

"She practiced better than me, probably, most of the time. I see her in the indoor courts. I've seen her play and she's unbelievable."

Ons Jabeur started her 2025 season at the Brisbane International, where she bested players like Zheng Saisai, Elina Avanesyan, and more to reach the quarterfinals, where she was defeated by Mirra Andreeva 6-4, 7-6 (2)

Following this, the 30-year-old participated in the Adelaide International and the Australian Open, reaching the second and third round of the tournaments, respectively.