Tennis fans were left heartbroken by the sight of Ons Jabeur falling to the ground in agony after her second-round exit from the Australian Open.
The world No.2 was stunned by world No.86 Marketa Vondrousova late on Thursday night, knocked out in the second round after consecutive grand slam finals appearances.
Jabeur never got into a rhythm against the tricky Czech, making a poor 50 unforced errors and having her serve broken eight times on route to a 6-1 5-7 6-1 defeat.
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But it’s what happened after the match with the 28-year-old Tunisian, who has become a trailblazer as the highest-ranked African and Arab player in tennis history, that left viewers upset.
Jabeur is much-loved for her warm personality and incredible rise with a fully Tunisian staff – captured in the recent Netflix documentary Break Point.
But as she walked off the court at around 1am, it all became too much.
She was shown heading into the corridor but as she made it up the stairs between the court and the hallway, Jabeur collapsed to her knees, in tears, then sat there for what felt like an eternity, clearly distraught.
Despite being ranked second in the world Jabeur did not hold a post-match press conferene.
