A visibly emotional Ons Jabeur has declared that she will donate part of the winning prize money of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) finals to Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. Jabeur broke down after her win over Marketa Vondrousova in Cancun on Thursday, stating that it's upsetting to see people lose lives in that part of the region.
Jabeur, who hails from Tunisia, avenged her this year's Wimbledon's final loss against Marketa Vondrousova with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. As a result, she stormed into contention for the final's race after suffering a loss to the youngster Coco Gauff.
Speaking to the interviewer after the win, the 29-year-old stated:
"I am very happy with the win, but I haven’t been happy lately. The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy. It’s very tough seeing children, babies dying every day. It’s heartbreaking, so I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians."
"I want peace in this world and that’s it" - Ons Jabeur
The Tunisian highlighted feeling stressed seeing the suffering worldwide and reckons it's tough to stay off social media much as she tries to.
"I cannot be happy with just this win, with what is happening. I’m sorry guys, it’s supposed to be about tennis, but it’s very frustrating looking at videos every day. I’m sorry – it’s not a political message, it’s just humanity. I want peace in this world and that’s it. I try to stay off social media as much as I can but it’s very tough. You go through horrible photos and videos every day – it doesn’t let me sleep or recover very well."
