Wimbledon: Ons Jabeur on playing her friend Tatjana Maria in semi-finals
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Wimbledon 2022 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. |
Reaching my first Grand Slam semi feels incredible and to play my good friend Tatjana Maria in the Wimbledon semi-finals makes it even better.
I have known Tatjana for a long, long time and we are barbecue buddies too. She is one of the nicest people on the WTA Tour without a doubt.
What Tatjana has achieved as a tennis player is incredible and being able to do that as a mother of two is even more amazing. I'm so proud of what she has done.
I could see myself having a baby and coming back to play in WTA events... but not yet! I'm doing great right now and I don't have the time to stop.
I always wanted to have a baby and play again afterwards, but I can't say for sure if I will do it or not.
I want to have a family at some stage; it is something I have always wanted. I got married to my husband Karim when I was young and maybe we will have children when the time is right.
If I do, then I will call Tatjana for some tips!
I don't know how she has done it, coming back to play after two babies. Doing it once is hard enough so to do it twice is unbelievable.
Maybe my kids can play with Tatjana's kids in the future - although there might be a big age gap by the time I start a family!
Asking Tatjana's daughter for tips to beat her mum
During Wimbledon, Tatjana and I have texted a few times when we haven't seen each other on site and when I do see the family I always hug her, congratulate her husband and play with her two girls.
Even before we play each other on Thursday, nothing will change.
I will act like myself, I will probably grab one of her girls and play with them like usual.
I saw Charlotte, her older one, after my quarter-final on Tuesday and said: "Are you going to cheer for me or for your mum?" She said she would cheer for both.
I said I will take that!
Then I went back and asked: "What's the tactic against your mum and what shall I do?" She started laughing but didn't give me any advice!
Ons Jabeur walks with Tatjana Maria's youngest daughter Cecilia at the All England Club as her mum and older sister Charlotte watch on
Charlie, Tatjana's husband and also her coach, is a really nice guy too. He is very welcoming and when I was in Miami he said "come to our house, you can stay with us". They're the type of friends I like to have.
I went to their house in Palm Beach; we had a barbecue there and had a swim too.
I knew Tatjana before when she had Charlotte and now she has Cecilia. I love that family! They are really cute.
I know Charlotte more because she is the oldest one and speaks. She is really good at tennis already and I played with her a little bit at Indian Wells, which was really fun.
She loves tennis and loves the players. I think she loves me as a player too and that really touched me.
The younger one is also really cute and she is always smiling. You can see the great energy of both kids and I love that about them.
Opponents for two hours - but friends for life
Tatjana and I became friends by playing the same WTA tournaments and then seeing each other around a lot during tour life.
She is always happy for me and will text when I win. I text her too when she wins and I was really happy when she won her second WTA title in Bogota earlier this year.
She is an incredible person and one of the people on tour who I love.
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I actually texted Tatjana after her quarter win over Jule Niemeier, which finished shortly before my match against Marie Bouzkova, and told her I'm happy for her.
But I didn't say "I hope to play you" because I didn't want to predict that and then tempt fate.
Usually I don't look at the draws at tournaments but it was after the quarters, when Tatjana beat Jelena Ostapenko, that I first started to realise there was a big chance I could play her in the semi-finals.
It is going to be a great match!
She plays really well on grass, she has such an amazing slice, she is going to fight until the end.
It will be a tricky match and I will give it my all.
Maybe we will not be friends for two hours or so but at the end we will be friends again, of course.
Ons Jabeur was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Wimbledon.