“Friends Animals” is important for Anas Zafar to capture the throne of the Madrid competition

Tunisian Anas Jaber Madrid ascended the throne of the 1,000th match, winning the biggest titles of his career and returning to seventh in the world rankings for female tennis players. ..

Jaber, 27, has written a new chapter in his remarkable rise in recent years, beating American Jessica Bequila 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 in the Spanish capital on Saturday.

This is his second title at the WTA Championship and he became the first Arab player to win the WTA title after last year’s Birmingham turf competition.

In an interview with the WTA website, Jaber said that he was mentally prepared for the games in Madrid, where he came to the final of one of the 1000 matches for the first time. “I had to be mentally prepared and get help from some animals.”

On the way to winning the title, Jaber avenged the defeat of Switzerland’s Belinda Benzic in the Charleston final, beating former world number one Simona Halep and defending champion Madrid twice. Begula in the final.

“I was playing with the cards. I said to myself, ‘I’ll pick one card every day.’ They were animal cards with the animal’s message written on them. I used them.”

Jaber, who has not previously hidden his ambition to top the women’s professional level, added, “Well when I draw the card ‘What do I have to do to win tomorrow?’ + An animal told me to dig deeper. Another animal told me I was going to face a legend. It was Simona (Halep) that was right. .. “

– Get me ready –

Thanks to her technical and physical staff, including sports psychologist Melanie Mayer and her husband Kareem Kammun, Jaber’s psychological preparation seems to be very important, “I’m so glad you’re with me and I hope you’re back. With me for further studies.”

The player, who experienced previous disappointments in the final sets, continued, “Helping me physically more than online calms me down when she’s with me and she can notice how nervous I am. It’s not usually easy to open my mind to others. .. I’m been working with Melanie for a long time and I can see the progress we have made. “

This is not the first time Jaber has sought motivational methods before his matches. “I did it once before, but not with animals. It was in Chicago. I read the book (21 lessons about tennis). I flipped through. It opened a random page that talked about the book and the lessons you learn from tennis. I think things were better in Madrid, for me. Thanks to my animal friends who helped. “

This is the sixth final in Jaber’s career since he lost the same tournament last year to the US Charleston tournament earlier this year, with the exception of American Chicago 2021 and Moscow 2018.

Inspired by Moroccan Hisham al-Razi and American Andy Roddick in his debut, Jaber has been very successful this season in the Dirt (12) and hopes to break the quarter-final barrier in the key matches he will continue to play. Knowing that he had won the Roland Garros Junior title in 2011, his upward performance was “very important” (won in Madrid) to one day win a Grand Slam.