'MINISTER FOR HAPPINESS' JABEUR HOPING TO HAVE THE FINAL LAUGH THIS YEAR

THE first thing Ons Jabeur saw on entering the locker room at Wimbledon for the first time this year was a photograph of Elena Rybakina with last year’s trophy.

- Matt Majendie

Being beaten by her in last year’s final — during which she was a set up only to be broken down by the Kazakh’s power game — ate away at her but has become the motivation to go one better.

The Tunisian never played on grass growing up but said her love of playing football on the surface made it a natural fit. She joked after her first-round match: “Maybe I pretend to be Cristiano Ronaldo playing here.”

There is a levity to Jabeur on and off court, cracking jokes and sharing moments of fun with the crowd even in tense moments. It is no surprise that in her homeland they call her the ‘Minister for Happiness’. In the stands at Wimbledon, she seems universally loved.

It is not just the joy with which she plays but the brand of tennis — a mercurial mix of drop shots, slices and unconventional returns.