Tennis News: Ons Jabeur is set for a fall and Novak Djokovic's slide
Both players could easily slip in the rankings before the grass court season in June.
By Lee Vowell
2024 has not been kind to Ons Jabeur. She struggled with an injury in January and overall this year she is only 2-5 and has not won since the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in early February. Plus, she only had to win one match to reach the quarters. Even when healthy, her form has been bad.
To make matters worse for the Tunisian, she could face a precipitous fall in the WTA rankings over the next two months. She won the Charleston Open in 2023 and has 470 points to defend. Jabeur then reached the semifinals in Stuttgart and the quarterfinals in the French Open. But based on her current play, there is likely no way she will achieve that kind of success in 2024.
Less than 1,000 points separates Jabeur from No. 11 Daria Kasatkina currently and because of Jabeur's wins last year, that gap could close quickly. She has not been outside the top 10 since 2021, but that is also seemingly going to change in 2024. This is a shame because Jabeur is a well-liked player who appears to care about others as much as she does herself.
Ons Jabeur and Novak Djokovic might have a rankings problem
Maybe she can get her game turned around some. Jabeur is saving fewer break points this year compared to recent seasons and winning fewer of her first serves. This is probably correctable, but to hold on to her No. 6 ranking, she needs to fix her form quickly.
The same thing that could happen with Ons Jabeur could happen with Novak Djokovic. The Serb might still be ranked No. 1 on the ATP tour but few would argue he is the equal of Jannik Sinner currently. Djokovic might not even be as good as Carlos Alcaraz currently either. Sinner has now moved up to No. 2 and is about 1,000 points away from Djokovic.
The issue for the Serb is that he probably won't be playing many events until the French Open and then he will have 2,000 points to defend as he won the tournament last year. He has yet to win a title in 2024 and he recently split with his long-term coach Goran Ivanisevic. Djokovic remaining No. 1 into the summer seems unlikely.
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