The Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur, who once reached second place in the world rankings, faced Colombia’s Camila Osorio in the second round of the Australian Open.
Despite suffering from an asthma attack during the match, Jabeur managed to secure a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
In an early stage of the match, during the third game, Jabeur experienced a severe coughing fit and pointed to her chest before leaving the court to receive medical attention. After the match, she shared her experience:
“Very, very tough to breathe. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with asthma,” she said.
“I tried to use the inhaler, and it didn’t really help. So I was with the doctor, and let’s see. We’re going to do some more tests and see what’s going on.
“I had to not play long rallies. Not the best opponent when you are in this condition, but I apologised at the end of the match, because I really don’t want to behave like this on the court.”
The Tunisian player, Jabeur, had been unable to participate in the US Open and Paris Olympics due to injury, causing her world ranking to drop to 39th.
She took a break from competition in September last year and returned to the court at the beginning of January. However, the four-month hiatus seemed to aggravate her asthma issues.
“Having taken off a lot [of time] didn’t help. I think it provoked it even more,” she explained.
“I think I will have to find a way to feel better the next two days, which I am hoping to do because this started kind of two days or three days ago. I feel like it got worse for some reason.”
Jabeur expressed her determination to continue:
“I’m really just taking it one minute at a time and see how it’s going to go, but definitely I’m doing everything that I can to be ready,” she said.
“I don’t want to be greedy just after coming back from an injury. Sometimes I get angry because I feel like I’m getting back there, but every time something happens.”
In the next round, Jabeur will face American Emma Navarro.