Jabeur to become first Arab player to reach Top 10 in rankings

The WTA on Thursday announced Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur will make her Top 10 debut in singles when the rankings are updated Monday, Oct. 18, where she will become the first Arab woman or man to enter tennis’ elite ranking bracket.

Jabeur solidified her spot in the Top 10 debut following her win over Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit earlier Thursday in their quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. It marked Jabeur’s 48th match-win of 2021, the most by any player on the WTA Tour this season.

Her ascendancy to the Top 10 is another trailblazing milestone for Jabeur. She became the first Arab woman to win a WTA title, which she achieved earlier this year at the Viking Classic Birmingham and is the first to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal after making the last eight at the 2020 Australian Open (which she’s since matched with the same result at The Championships, Wimbledon, in 2021). Jabeur also became the first Arab woman to progress beyond a WTA quarterfinal, following her run to the title match at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in 2018.