NEW YORK -- Ons Jabeur has become a minority owner of the National Women's Soccer League's North Caroline Courage. The Tunisian star is the second Hologic WTA Tour player to invest in the Courage, joining former No.1 Naomi Osaka, who became a minority owner in 2021.
"Finally Naomi accepted me in the team," Jabeur said at US Open Media Day. "I've been trying to get in the team for years now."
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The World No.5 is an avid soccer fan and has been eyeing the investment since joining Osaka's management company, Evolve.
"It's a great honor in so many ways," Jabeur said. "Definitely for me, the most important is supporting women's sports."
"As a football fan, I'm really excited to go and see some matches. If they let me play, I will definitely go and play."
Welcome to #CourageCountry Ons!
— NC Courage (@TheNCCourage) August 25, 2023
Tennis superstar @Ons_Jabeur has joined the NC Courage team as a minority owner pic.twitter.com/dT8FhI8sDX
This year, the US Open is celebrating 50 years of equal prize money. It was the first Grand Slam to offer equal pay for men and women. Jabeur says she sees the parallels in women's soccer and their fight for equal pay, especially in light of the rousing success of the Women's World Cup.
"I always try to push for women's rights," Jabeur said. "I believe that we deserve more. Especially in tennis, it's great that we have equal prize money at the Grand Slams, but I feel like other tournaments, it needs to be better, for sure.
"We are playing great tennis. We had great generations. Honestly, I see women's soccer is going that way."
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Sporting a NC Courage cap during her media rounds, Jabeur provided an update on her preparations for the last Slam of the year. She has played just one tournament since her loss in the Wimbledon final, but appeared to pick up a right leg injury in her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati.
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"Always trying to be 100% healthy," Jabeur said. "It's always tough. I'm doing everything possible to be ready. It's looking great. So I'm just going to take it one step at a time and see how it goes."
Drawn into the bottom half of the draw, Jabeur is set to face Colombia's Camila Osorio in the first round on Tuesday. Jabeur has won their only prior match, a 6-0, 6-1 win at the 2021 US Open.