No. 2 Stat of the Year: Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab tennis player, male or female, to reach Top 10

This week we’re counting down our Top 5 Stats Of The Year, one day at a time…

… and coming in at No. 2 on the list is Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur rewriting the history books by become the first Arab tennis player, male or female, to break into the Top 10 in either ATP or WTA rankings history.

The historic moment took place on October 18th, after a semifinal showing at Indian Wells, and she didn’t just reach the Top 10, she burst into it—she soared from No. 14 to No. 8, and she didn’t stop there, upping her career-high to No. 7 two weeks later.

“It means a lot. I’m really happy,” Jabeur told Tennis Channel. “That’s the goal that I set up from the beginning of the season. I said that I wanted to be in the Top 10.

“I honestly thought it was going to be very difficult—at the beginning I started to play well, but then ranking points weren’t dropping from 2019, so it was kind of tough, and I was kind of like, ‘What can people do to get to Top 20 or Top 10?’

“But then I got to Top 20 and then right away Top 10, and the only thing I’m going to say right now is I’m going to work harder to prove that I deserve this spot.”

Before Jabeur, the highest-ranked Arab tennis player in ATP or WTA rankings history was Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui, who reached No. 14 on the ATP rankings in 2003.

No. 3 Stat of the Year: Rafael Nadal surpasses 800 weeks in a row in the Top 10

No. 4 Stat of the Year: Daniil Medvedev breaks Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray’s 15-year stranglehold on Top 2

No. 5 Stat of the Year: Emma Raducanu becomes first qualifier in Open Era to win a Grand Slam title at US Open