Wimbledon: Ons Jabeur on family unable to be at final, childhood dreams & watching Roger Federer’s win

I’m not going to lie to you, winning Wimbledon was not my childhood dream.

We don’t have any grass courts in Tunisia so I couldn’t imagine being at Wimbledon when I was young.

But it became a dream when I reached the quarter-finals last year because I enjoyed being here and enjoyed everything about Wimbledon.

So from then it was the target for me: to come back and win here.

My brother Hatem is planning to come over from Tunisia and will hopefully be there on Saturday, but unfortunately the other members of my family don’t have visas.

It will be tough for them but they will be cheering for me back home.

My parents Samira and Ridha and sister Yasmine can’t come to London, but it will be great that Hatem, and possibly my brother-in-law, will be here.

Now I hope it can be a great, great Saturday.

If I was able to win the title it would be a double celebration because it is Eid on Saturday, which is one of my favourite holidays. It’s like our Christmas.

Usually we celebrate by eating barbecued sheep and spending time with the family. I always miss it.

But maybe it is going to be a special celebration afterwards and perhaps I will have my own barbecue.

I heard the celebrations back home after my semi-final win were crazy, and they would be even crazier if I win on Saturday.

I love to see the joy in Tunisians, even though it is a difficult moment for them.

There are tough times, politically, for many people back home.

Hopefully, I can win one more match and continue to bring some joy to the people.

After every match at Wimbledon there have been some Tunisian fans waiting outside the media balcony, where players do the post-match interviews for television, and they cheer, chant and celebrate.

It is an incredible feeling to have them there and bring a Tunisian taste to Wimbledon.

‘When I was three I commentated on my mum’s matches’

People often say I have inspired them because of my achievements as an Arab and African woman.

My inspiration is my mum.

She is a big fan of tennis and took me to a tennis club when I was only three years old.

My mum used to play with her friends and I used to commentate. After the matches I was…