AS the WTA Tour comes to a close for the 2020 season, Draft Central is counting down the top five standout performers across a severely disrupted year who have stepped up to a new level since the Tour’s return. At number three on the countdown is Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who sits at a current career-high ranking after a great start to the year.

The only player on this countdown without a title to her name, there is no doubt the five quarter final berths in 2020 have allowed Jabeur to work her way up the rankings throughout the interrupted season. Currently sitting just outside the top 30 on the WTA Rankings at number 31, Jabeur has gradually worked her way up the leaderboard this year from fighting for entry into tournaments and now negotiating a potential seeding at the 2021 Australian Open after slipping in as the 30th seed at the Roland Garros. 

Currently completing her first Top 50 season, Jabeur’s recent form has seen her reach the quarter finals five times in 2020 – three times since the Tour’s return in August – and while she is yet to make it to the semis it is this consistency that has maintained her gradual rise up the rankings. 

For Jabeur, it seems to be a couple of jinx players who hold a mantle over her on court, taking on both Coco Gauff and Sofia Kenin twice this year and going down on both occasions – with the loss against Kenin seeing their head to head sit at 1-6. While Gauff is one of the outliers upsetting Jabeur given her lower ranking – joined by compatriot Danielle Collins and returnee Victoria Azarenka – Jabeur seems to have the most trouble against the top echelon of players on the Tour, with seven of her 11 losses this season coming against players with higher rankings and three within the top 10.

That being said, there’s still plenty to cheer about for Jabeur whose form has swung from a 46 per cent success rate in 2019 to 69.4 per cent in 2020, registering nine more wins from just one more game compared to last season. She has improved her effectiveness off both her service games (55.6 per cent in 2019 to 59.7 per cent in 2020) and ability to hold serve, sitting at close to 72 per cent this season compared to 62.3 per cent in 2019.

Whilst Jabeur is yet to win her maiden title, there is no doubt the Tunisian 26-year-old is getting close with plenty of exciting form and her improvement evident this season, not just by looking at the stats but also her renewed confidence on court and consistency in the second half of the year paying dividends.