Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur will not compete again in 2024 due to a continuing shoulder injury. Jabeur made the announcement on her social media channels on Monday.
The Tunisian, now age 30 as of last month, played just one match since Wimbledon -- a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in Toronto -- and though she was in the draw for Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., and the US Open, she withdrew from those events before taking the court.
"This year has been extremely hard for me, and as athletes, we know that recovery is part of the journey," she wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying she made the "difficult" decision in consultation with her medical team.
The lingering shoulder concern hasn't been the only health problem that Jabeur has dealt with in recent months; this year, a continuing right knee problem, which required surgery last year, forced her out of the WTA 1000 in Dubai, and she retired from her quarterfinal match against Coco Gauff at the grass-court event in Berlin with illness.
🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hp0Vvtuvxh
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) September 16, 2024
But Jabeur says she's going to use her time away from the Hologic WTA Tour in support of charitable causes, writing: "While I'm taking time to heal, I'll be dedicating myself to charity work and ensuring that we make a real difference in the world."
The former World No.2 is currently No.22 in the PIF WTA Rankings, having fallen out of the world's Top 10 in July. She had previously spent all but one week inside the elite ranking range since October of 2021. (She was ranked No.11 for the week of Jan. 31, 2022.)
Jabeur reassured fans to close her post that she will be back in action Down Under in Australia to begin the 2025 season.
"Thank you for all your support, and I can't wait to come back stronger," she wrote.