third defeat
\n LONDON
\nTearful Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur described her third defeat in a Grand Slam final as the \u201cmost painful\u201d of her career as she vowed to learn from the tennis greats who were also jinxed at the majors.
\nWorld number six Jabeur was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday, one year after she lost the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina.
\nMore pain followed at the US Open later in the year where she was runner-up again, this time to Iga Swiatek.
\nThe 28-year-old is only the eighth woman to lose her first three Grand Slam finals.
\nHowever, she can take comfort from knowing that the likes of Chris Evert, Kim Clijsters and Simona Halep also suffered the same fate before going on to capture Grand Slam titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be tough to speak. I am going to look ugly in the photos so that\u2019s not going to help,\u201d said Jabeur after again being thwarted in her bid to become the first Arab or African woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this is the most painful loss of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added defiantly: \u201cI promise I will come back one day and win this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former world number one Clijsters lost the 2001 and 2003 French Open finals, the US Open title match in 2003 and the Australian Open final in 2004.<\/p>\n
But the Belgian eventually ended her career as a four-time major champion, winning her first in New York in 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Kim so much. She\u2019s a great inspiration for me,\u201d said Jabeur who was consoled by Clijsters behind the scenes at Centre Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that she takes the time to give me advice and to really hug me, always be there for me, I think it\u2019s priceless.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was telling me all the time she lost four. That\u2019s why I know the information, otherwise would have been tough. But, yeah, that\u2019s the positive out of it. You cannot force things. It wasn\u2019t meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The popular Jabeur also received a warm embrace from Kate, the Princess of Wales, who presented the trophies.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t know if she wants to give me a hug or not. I told her hugs are always welcome from me. That was a very nice moment and she\u2019s always nice to me,\u201d Jabeur said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
third defeat LONDON Tearful Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur described her third defeat in a Grand Slam final as the \u201cmost painful\u201d of her career as she vowed to learn from the tennis greats who were also jinxed at the majors. World number six Jabeur was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-343590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n