agencies
Posted on: Monday, May 9, 2022 – 1:22 PM | Last update: Monday 9 May 2022 – 1:22 PM
Tunisian Anas Jaber rose to the throne of the Madrid 1,000th Tournament, winning the biggest titles in her career, and returned to seventh place in the world rankings for female tennis players, with the help of motivational messages for the card game whose heroes are animals..
Jaber, 27, wrote a new chapter of her remarkable rise in recent years, winning the title on Saturday in the Spanish capital on dirt ground once morest American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 0-6, 6-2.
This is her second title in the WTA Championships, following last year’s Birmingham grasscourt tournament when she became the first Arab player to win a WTA title.
Jaber revealed in an interview with the WTA website that she was mentally prepared for the games in Madrid, where she reached the final of one of the 1000 tournaments for the first time, “I had to prepare mentally, and I got help from some animals.”
On her way to the title, Jaber avenged the Swiss Belinda Bencic, who defeated her in the Charleston final. She overcame former world number one Simona Halep and defending champion in Madrid twice, and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova only a second time in eight matches, then Pegula in the final.
“I was playing with the cards. I said to myself ‘I will pick a card every day’. They are animal cards, with a message from the animal written on them. I used them.”
Jaber, who previously did not hide her ambition to top the women’s professional standings, added, “When I drew the card I used to say ‘Okay what do I have to do to win tomorrow?’ + One animal told me to dig deep. Another animal told me I was going to face a legend. It was Simona (Halep). That’s perfect. One animal told me to use my wits and be ready, another told me to act. So it was the perfect card every time I drew.”
– prepare myself –
The psychological preparation seems very important for Jaber, who thanked her technical and physical staff, which includes her husband Karim Kammoun, in addition to Melanie Mayar, a sports psychologist, “It’s great to have you with me, and I hope you will come back with me for additional courses.”
The player, who has experienced previous disappointments in the deciding sets of the finals, continued, “Helping me physically, rather than online, calms me down when she’s with me and she can notice how nervous I am. It’s not usually easy to open up to others, but when she’s by my side it becomes easier.. I’ve been working with Melanie for a long time and I can see the progress we’ve made.”
And it wasn’t the first time Jaber had resorted to stimulating methods before her matches. “I’ve done it once before, but not with animals. It was in Chicago. I read the book (21 Lessons About Tennis). I flipped the book and opened a random page that talked regarding the lessons you’re learning from tennis. I think things were better in Madrid, thanks to my animal friends for helping me.”
This was Jaber’s sixth final in her professional career, as she lost the American Charleston tournament earlier this year and the same last year, in addition to the American Chicago 2021 and Moscow 2018.
Jaber, who was inspired in her beginnings by Moroccan Hicham Al-Razi and American Andy Roddick, is the most successful this season on dirt (12), and she will hope in Paris to break the quarter-final barrier in the major tournaments to continue her upward performance, knowing that she won the Roland Garros junior title in 2011 “the most important” For me to do this (winning in Madrid) to be able to win a grand slam one day.”