Small calf tear denies Ons Jabeur the chance to defend Madrid title

At the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open, Ons Jabeur celebrated her biggest title to date when she defeated Jessica Pegula in a three-set final.

A year later, the world No. 4 won’t step back out on the Caja Mágica at the 1000-level event as the injury bug has once again stalled her season.

On Monday, event organizers revealed Jabeur was “unable to play” the tournament. The news came shortly after the Tunisian joined reigning men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz for an on-site appearance.

Following the announcement, Jabeur shared on her social media, “Further to many medical exams done, it shows that I have a small tear in my calf and I will need more time to recover. I am sad to announce that I won’t be able to compete and defend my title this year.”

Just 48 hours earlier, Jabeur was forced to retire three games into her Stuttgart semifinal with Iga Swiatek after picking up the left calf injury. The 28-year-old had been on a seven-match win streak, triumphing on green clay in Charleston before adding a pair of wins at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix over Jelena Ostapenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Having struggled with a knee issue in January, Jabeur later missed all three events during February’s Middle East swing in order to undergo a “minor surgery”—undisclosed at the time. She later stated at Indian Wells, “the knee is getting there. Physically I obviously need more time. But when the time is right, I'll tell you what was going on really. I'm sorry, I cannot talk about it right now. But it is more than that.”

Last year, Jabeur backed up her Madrid run by finishing runner-up to Swiatek in Rome.