Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick believes that Ons Jabeur will definitely win a Wimbledon title one day, something the American himself came very close to achieving.
Roddick reached the Wimbledon final in 2004, 2005 and 2009 but lost to Roger Federer on all three occasions. World No. 5 Jabeur, who has often mentioned Roddick as her idol, has also suffered defeats in the last two finals of the grass Major. The Tunisian went down 6-3, 2-6, 2-6 to Elena Rybakina in the 2022 summit clash before going down 4-6, 4-6 against Marketa Vondrousova at the final hurdle this year. The latter left Jabeur in tears and she termed it as the “most painful loss of her career.”
In a column for Betway Insider, Roddick praised Jabeur for being a trailblazer for the African countries and also revealed that he had actually sent her a message after the final in which he wrote, “Listen, if you ever want to chat, I’ve been where you are right now. But I have more faith in you winning Wimbledon than I ever had in myself winning Wimbledon.”
He also advised Jabeur not to rush while preparing for this year’s US Open.
In the same column, Roddick also mentioned that he “was shocked” by the men’s final’s result, in which Carlos Alcaraz stunned four-time champion Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. “This kid is the real deal. Not only do I think he’ll win double digit Slams, but I’ve had as much fun watching him as I have anyone since I started playing,“ he wrote.
Roddick also advocated for automatic line-calling at Wimbledon.