Ons Jabeur announced she will miss this year's Middle East swing to undergo surgery.
Jabeur, the World No.3, had already withdrawn from this week's Abu Dhabi 500 tournament. She won't compete in next week's Doha 500 or the following week's Dubai 1000.
"In order to take care of my health situation, my medical team have decided that I need to get a minor surgery in order to be able to be back on the courts and perform well," Jabeur wrote on social media. "I will have to retire from Doha and Dubai and this is breaking my heart. I would like to say sorry to all the fans out there in the Middle East that waited for this reunion. I promise I will come back to you stronger and healthy."
The two-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur has electrified crowds in Doha and Dubai as she has risen up the rankings over the past few seasons. The Middle East swing comprised the closest the Tunisian had to home tournaments before last year's inaugural Jasmin Open in Monastir. Jabeur has reached the quarterfinals in Doha twice (2020 and 2022) and in Dubai once (2022).
During this year's Australian Open, where she fell in the second round to Marketa Vondrousova, Jabeur spoke about the need to manage an ongoing knee injury.
"It's not a big injury, but sometimes it might bother me," she told press after her first-round defeat of Tamara Zidansek. "I try to take it one day at a time. It's a great challenge, you know."
