This Tunisian Tennis Player Broke Down Over Gaza After Her Win And Said She’ll Donate Her Prize Money
“It’s very heartbreaking seeing children, babies dying everyday… I cannot be happy with just this win, with what is happening.”
Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur has announced that she will donate part of her prize money from her win at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals.
In an emotional on-court interview after her win over Czech player Marketa Vondrousova, 29-year-old Jabeur broke down over the war in Gaza.
When asked if she was happy with the win, Jabeur said she was happy with the win but hasn’t been happy lately.
“The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy,” Jabeur said before breaking down in tears.
The reporter then tries to comfort her while the audience applauds and cheers her on.
She said that it was very heartbreaking “seeing children, babies dying every day,” adding that she has decided to donate part of her prize money to help Palestinians.
“I cannot be happy with just this win, with what is happening,” she said. “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,” she added.
Speaking again during the post-match interview, Jabeur said that she felt hopeless seeing the social media videos coming out of Gaza, which Israel has been relentlessly pummeling with airstrikes since it declared war on Hamas on Oct. 7.
She said that winning a tennis match “doesn’t mean anything in front of what’s been happening for weeks and weeks [in Gaza]”.
She added that she understands her donation will not “mean anything to them right now” but hopes it can help a little bit.
