For three straight years, Ons Jabeur finished among the Hologic WTA Tour’s Top 10 players. After some serious physical setbacks, she currently finds herself at No. 35. Does that free her to play with less pressure?

“I would say I’m playing with same pressure,” Jabeur said on Tuesday, “I’m just handling it much better.”

She was smiling broadly when she said it, and why not? Jabeur had just beaten Zheng Qinwen for the first time, handling the No. 7 seed 6-4, 6-2 at the Doha at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open. She’ll play Sofia Kenin in a Round of 16 match on Wednesday.

Doha: Draws | Scores | Order of play

“I think the pressure will always be there somehow, but for me the most important thing is I focus on myself,” Jabeur told reporters afterward. “I’m trying to improve things in my game, in my mentality in general. I feel it’s a very important thing to evolve in the sport, since the sport is really evolving every month.”

Hard to believe today, but for the longest time -- eight straight years, from 2012-19 -- Jabeur couldn’t win a match in Doha. As a singles wildcard and qualifier, even in doubles, she went an aggregate 0-10.

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“Very, very difficult,” Jabeur told wtatennis.com on Sunday. “I would have a difficult draw, I didn’t have any experience, but they didn’t give up on me. They kept giving me wild cards, kept welcoming me here. I remember all I wanted was to win one match. I decided to play doubles just get that first win.” 

In 2019, Jabeur and partner Alison Riske defeated Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Kveta Peschke 11-9 in the third set.

And now, Jabeur finds herself in Doha’s Round of 16 for the fourth time in her career, the first time since 2022. She defeated McCartney Kessler 6-2, 6-0 in the first round and has dropped only eight games so far.

After reaching three Grand Slam singles finals and the No. 2 PIF WTA Ranking, Jabeur plummeted to No. 42 in 2024, a casualty of several injuries. This year, Jabeur’s already won 10 of 14 matches. 

This will be the second straight match for Jabeur facing a daunting history. Going back to 2016, she’s played Kenin eight times, losing six. However, they’ve split the past two, with Kenin winning last year in Rome and Jabeur prevailing four years ago in Miami. Both matches went three sets.

The chronic knee injury and a balky shoulder, Jabeur reports, seem to be behind her. Last week in Abu Dhabi, she played a terrific quarterfinal match against No. 5-ranked Elena Rybakina, losing in a third-set tiebreak.

Against Zheng, Jabeur returned exceptionally well, winning 32 of 56 points (.571). On the other side, she saved five of eight break points. This was Jabeur’s first Top 10 win on hard courts since defeating Marketa Vondrousova at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun.

Back in 2012, she was a 17-year-old from Tunisia ranked somewhere past No. 1000 when the Qatar Total Open threw her a lifeline. Jabeur accepted a wild card into the main draw but, predictably, fell to Virginie Razzano.

As she noted after defeating Zheng, Jabeur is managing things better -- both her mind and body.

“I am more conscious of [the physical side], more confident,” said Jabeur, who turned 30 last summer. “And I’m trying to be less tough with myself because sometimes that doesn’t help. Definitely a better me this year, on and off the court.

“I’m definitely not the same player, but I believe in myself that I can be back and, hopefully, win my first Grand Slam. I try not to look back at the past but be in the present.”

Jabeur is an icon in this part of the world, the first African and Arab to achieve a number of notable tennis milestones. She was born in Ksar Hellal, Tunisia and grew up in the coastal city of Sousse on the northern tip of Africa. And while Doha is some 2,500 miles away, across the breadth of the Mediterranean Sea, it became her tennis home. She first played the Arabic Games and other junior events there as a 15- and 16-year-old.

“From Day 1, they have always supported me, even at 17 with no ranking,” Jabeur said. “I would trade a win in any tournament to win this one because it is really special for me to give back after what they’ve done for me.

“I want to really represent the Arab world very well and this is the most [important] swing for me. I know doing well here will help inspire the next generation.”