Hyderabad: Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur overcame a challenging asthma attack in her second-round fixture to secure a brave win over Colombia's Camila Osorio by 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday. She was on the verge of retiring due to her struggle with breathing but the 30-year-old fought her way to a straight sets win.
After going 2-1 up in the first set, the Tunisian had a lot of difficulties and she was seen coughing and clutching her chest. She then slumped into her chair and was teary-eyed after the incident. Ons then left the court for medical attention but returned to the action after a while and didn’t let her breathing difficulty become any obstacle in her path to victory.
Ons Jabeur on having to deal with breathing problems in her Round 2 win
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“Very, very tough to breathe. When I was younger, I was diagnosed with Asthma. Having to cough a lot didn’t help. I think it did provoke it even more. I had to not play long rallies…”
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After using the inhaler, she pushed her limits through the remainder of the match. The former second-ranked Tennis star slumped to 39th in the rankings. Also, she was forced out of several competitions last year due to asthma-related problems. Ons concluded her season in September and returned to action at the beginning of 2025.
“When I was younger, I was diagnosed with asthma, so having taken off a lot didn’t help. I think it provoked it even more,” she told reporters after her 7-5 6-3 win over the Colombian.
She will now face American eighth seed Emma Navarro and will be aiming to register an easy victory over his rival. Ons is hopeful that she will produce positive results in the upcoming fixture as well.
"I'm really just taking it one minute at a time," she said in the press conference.
