With a third grand slam final loss overnight, Ons Jabeur has edged ever closer to mirroring her inspiration and close friend Kim Clijsters.
It took four losses before Clijsters finally broke through for her first singles grand slam title win in 2005.
That set her on her way to stardom, eventually winning four gongs – one in the Australian Open (2011) and three at the US Open (2005, 2009, 2010).
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Jabeur has lost all three of her grand slam finals appearances to date, her latest coming overnight at Wimbledon to Marketa Vondrousova.
Throughout the tournament, and even before that, Jabeur has had Clijsters in her corner giving sage advice.
“I love Kim so much,” said Jabeur in her post-match press conference.
“She is a great inspiration for me. Grew up watching her a bit and the fact that she takes the time to give me advice and to really hug me and always be there for me, I think it’s priceless.
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“She was telling me all the time that she lost four. That’s why I know the information otherwise it would’ve been tough.
“But yeah, I think that’s the positive out of it. You cannot force things. If it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be.”
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Grand Slam Daily, Clijsters detailed what was said after the match.
“We just sat in the locker room and at first hugged,” the Belgian tennis star explained.
Jabeur’s tearful speech after defeat
“It was a little bit of quiet time at first but then you just start sharing your experiences – and didn’t go too far into it, it’s just a matter of being there a little bit.
“Just kind of shared my experiences and how the emotions at times can be overwhelming.
“The annoying part is that you can’t go to the practice courts and work on those things. It’s not something you can imitate anywhere else.
“This is the only thing where what you can do is go out to these Grand Slams and try to put yourself in that situation where you play big matches.
“If you can get to another final then just do a few things differently. Things that worked for me might be different for her but she has to find the tools that she can use in the matches when she gets nervous when she gets a little bit tight and get that tension out of her body.”
Vondrousova claims maiden grand slam title
Coming into the final, Jabeur was the undisputed favourite for the title.
She’d made two previous grand slam finals appearances – losing to Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows respectively.
The Tunisian was the sixth seed while her Czech rival was unseeded and was looking to become the first women’s singles player to win at Wimbledon in the open era without a seeding.
So what went wrong for Jabeur? Clijsters believes she let emotions get the better of her.
“I think it’s really not necessary to start looking into the technical things that went wrong,” said Clijsters.
“I think it all starts with the confidence that you walk out on court with. Even in the locker room already, you could kind of see there was a lot of tension. I saw her quickly. She grabbed my hand. She said ‘Please take the stress out of me!’
“You could feel that already because it was so different from every other match that she’s played where she is excited, she’s focused but she’s joking around a little bit.
“I can relate very well and it’s a very frustrating, annoying feeling. It’s not the loss that is the most frustrating feeling but the fact you weren’t able to play your best tennis , that you didn’t get beat by playing a good match and it’s unfortunate.
“She’s played some incredible tennis, the quarter-finals and the semis, beat some players that were the favourite over here. In that match, in the final, she’s supposed to be the favourite, she just comes up a little bit short.
“You don’t have to worry about the technical game in a match like this, it’s about confidence. Sometimes fake it ’til you make it.
“I think that’s the message she needs to take away from this is; don’t just show your opponent that you’re not feeling good, don’t drop your shoulders, don’t show negative body language. Even if you’re not playing great, you can still kind of make you believe and try to just show some positive body language.
“Maybe in the next match if she puts herself in that situation again, try to do a little bit more of that when you feel that you’re really nervous.”
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