World number three women tennis player Ons Jabeur of Tunisia on Wednesday announced her withdrawal from WTA tournaments in Doha and Dubai, slated to take place later this month.
Jabeur said she has to undergo a minor surgery but did not give any details about it. In an Instagram post, Jabeur said: "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." The Qatar Open is to be held from February 13 to 18 while The Dubai Duty Free Championships is scheduled to take place from February 19 to March 4.
"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," she added. The Tunisian struggled at the Australian Open last month as she slumped to a second-round defeat to Marketa Vondrousova on Rod Laver Arena as the second seed.
The 28-year-old had a memorable year in 2022 as she reached No. 2 in the world rankings and progressed through to the finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open.