2011 French Open girls' winner Jabeur not holding herself back anymore

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur can easily change up her game, and now she's also starting to change up her ranking.

Since the start of the season, the 26 year old has climbed from No. 81 to No. 35 and reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open—upsetting Johanna Konta, Carolina Garcia and Caroline Wozniacki—Doha, and the relocated Cincinnati event.

She is also into the third round of the French Open, for the second time, where she will face Aryna Sabalenka.

“I kind of got sick being all the time in 50 or Top 100,” Jabeur said. “I know that I was able to win against some players from Top 10, Top 20."

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Jabeur, whose game includes a lot of different paces, slices and frequent drop shots, has had a slow rise up the ranks—the top junior won the 2011 French Open, but only broke into the Top 100 around three years ago. She pointed to a change in mentality as the biggest difference in her recent surge.

"I was not afraid to push more or get injured. Usually I was kind of stuck in that side," she said. "If I want to push harder, I think that I will get injured.

"It really helped me.”

The stop-and-start of events this season hasn't interrupted Jabeur's momentum—or motivation.

“Obviously it’s going to be different this year because there is not a lot of tournaments. But it’s the same goals,” she said. “I’m still keeping my motivation on to really play good. To be honest, I’m loving it.”