APR (Rwanda) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) Advance to Basketball Africa League (BAL) Semifinals in Pretoria
Meanwhile, the defending champions Petro de Luanda (Angola) are heading back to the BAL Semifinals after a 95–84 win over US Monastir (Tunisia). Kendrick Ray led all scorers with 20 points, while Yanick Moreira added 15. US Monastir was led by Patrick Hardy Jr. with 17 points, and Firas Lahyani added 15 in the loss.
The BAL Semifinals are set for Wednesday, July 11. Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) will face APR at 4:00 p.m. CAT, followed by Al Ittihad (Egypt) vs. Petro de Luanda (Angola) at 7:00 p.m. CAT.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).
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The National
20 hours ago
- The National
Ons Jabeur's tennis timeout shows growing need to address problem of player burnout
In a poignant message shared on social media by Ons Jabeur earlier this week, in which she announced she would be taking a break from professional tennis, one particular sentence stood out to me. 'Right now, I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living,' wrote the Tunisian tennis star. The joy of simply living – a fundamental need we often struggle to fulfil, or, even worse, forget to pursue. For professional athletes, especially tennis players, being on tour 11 months a year, chasing points, prize money, titles, and success, while constantly switching time zones and being away from loved ones, can make it increasingly difficult to find the joy of simply living. From the countless conversations I've had with players over the years, I've realised burn out hasn't just become a common occurrence in the world of professional tennis, it's become pretty much inevitable. While physical burnout can be easy to identify because it typically involves an injury or a specific pain felt in a specific part of the body, mental burnout is far trickier to detect. Players often attach their happiness – or lack thereof – to wins and losses on the court, and they find their identity too intertwined with tennis. That can be very dangerous in a sport where a competitor can lose every single week because only one champion is crowned at the end of each tournament. Everyone else walks away feeling like a loser. Those feelings a player attaches to every result can mask the true underlying struggles he or she is grappling with internally. The easy 'fix' for most tennis players is to just power through, and look ahead to the new week in order to chase a better result. But sometimes powering through is not the answer and that's what Jabeur, and a few others, have come to realise. The former world No 2 has been battling injuries and illness for the majority of the last two years. She took four months off at the end of 2024 to deal with a shoulder issue but she still didn't look or feel like herself when she returned in 2025. 'Deep down, I haven't truly felt happy on the court for some time now,' confessed Jabeur, who is famously dubbed the 'Minister of Happiness' back home in Tunisia. Her husband and fitness trainer Karim Kamoun posted a message on social media expressing his full support of Jabeur's decision. 'True strength isn't always found in pushing through. Sometimes, it's in knowing when to pause, breathe, and heal. Ons Jabeur's decision to step back isn't a setback, it's the foundation of a powerful comeback,' wrote Kamoun. 'Champions don't just fight; they know when to recover. And when she returns, it won't be as the same player … it'll be as something stronger.' The more I speak to unhappy players on the tennis circuit, the more I understand the complexity of their situation. From the outside, it seems like taking the occasional break from competing and travelling is an obvious way to preserve one's mental health and avoid potential burnout. But taking time off is one of the hardest decisions a player can make. A couple of months ago at Roland Garros, Jabeur said her decision to stop competing last August because of her shoulder should have been taken much earlier but she felt the pressure to keep going. 'We have a lot of guilt inside us, saying we're not doing enough or it's not enough,' said the three-time major finalist. 'The pressure from sponsors, the pressure from the ranking, the pressure of providing, I don't know, some players provide for their families as well. It is a very tough sport, unfortunately. I'm learning. I'm 30 years old, but I'm still learning in that.' Whether it's the 52-week ranking system that could see you drop points every week you don't perform well, or the bonus pool formula that penalises players for missing events by docking percentages from their end-of-season bonuses, or the mandatory tournaments scheme that could slap you with a zero-pointer for skipping one – it's essentially like having an F count towards your GPA. There are many reasons tennis players feel like they can't walk away from the tour for a short while. Which is why players like Jabeur – and many before her such as Amanda Anisimova, Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, and Emil Ruusuvuori to name a few – choosing to take a break is considered a bold and inspiring move. In an ideal world, players would treat potential mental burnout the same way they would deal with possible physical issues. Just like athletes pay a great deal of attention to injury prevention via work with their strength and conditioning coaches, why aren't more players looking ahead and thinking about their career longevity by preserving their mental health and keeping an eye out for early signs of mental burnout? Several young players have told me they never think about taking time off or pacing themselves on tour because they want to 'maximise' on their current opportunities as much as possible because there is no guarantee how long they'll be able to compete at this level. Grigor Dimitrov, who at 34, has navigated lots of highs and lows in tennis, believes many young players are surrounded by large teams that can insulate them from reality. 'They feel so protected. I always say that artificial surroundings that everyone has created around them, it does not allow things to go in,' the Bulgarian told The National recently at Wimbledon. 'So they're more or less a little bit bulletproof but also they haven't really seen disappointments, they haven't really seen failures, they haven't really seen bad things in their lives. 'So that already itself puts you in that cloud nine thing and you keep on rolling with it. Of course you want to capitalise the best you can. 'The younger you are, the more you do, the more money you get, the more everything has increased, the more popular you get, the more of the Instagrams and all the Twitters and the likes and all that, you get a lot more of it and I get it.' The flip side of that is that you can also ignore how you really feel. Players such as Madison Keys and Andrey Rublev have found great value in working with psychologists rather than solely relying on mental coaches. While a mental coach can give you tools to deal with stressful situations on court and other issues related to your tennis, psychologists will talk to you like a human being first. 'I can only speak for myself. It's been incredibly helpful to me,' said Keys of her decision to speak to a therapist. 'I've tried sports psychologists in the past, and I think for me just everything being so focused on just the sport and just tennis was not as helpful as I needed it to be. 'Really going to someone and looking at my overall life and how that was influencing how I felt on the court probably made the biggest difference for me. 'I feel like as tennis players, from a pretty young age, it just happens where our identity becomes very wrapped up in being a tennis player. 'That's great, but when you have the tough kind of weeks, months, years on tour, that can really take a toll on how you think about yourself as a person. 'So being able to dive into that and figure out how to separate the two and know that you're not just a tennis player, you're a full person that has all of these other really great attributes and other interests and just different things in your life. 'That was really a really important piece for me, and I think that kind of made the tennis a little bit easier.' Keys clinched a maiden Grand Slam title in January this year at the Australian Open and has credited the work she has done with her psychologist for her breakthrough just a couple of weeks shy of her 30th birthday. Rublev, who has openly discussed his battle with depression, was asked to give advice to his peers on tour who may be struggling with mental health issues. At Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev spoke about feeling 'empty' and 'lonely' away from the court and how he is generally 'lacking joy'. Casper Ruud told reporters in Madrid the tennis tour felt like a 'rat race' and that he was 'running in a hamster wheel that never got anywhere'. Rublev's advice for his fellow players is to look inward. 'To be honest, it's nothing to do with tennis. It's just you can find excuses, how exhausted or mentally tired from playing non-stop, non-stop, but it's nothing to do with tennis,' said the Russian world No 10. 'In the end, tennis is just the trigger point. It's something inside of you that you need to face. It happens to everyone, because Sascha [Zverev], he really loves tennis, and Casper, and many players, they do love tennis. The ones who don't love, who don't like tennis, they are more relaxed. 'They don't really care because maybe they have different priorities, but the ones who love tennis, the tennis triggers you. 'You tell them to, tell Sascha or someone to take a break. It will get tough for him to take a break. He would love to play. For sure, Casper, maybe, for him it's not also easy. 'So, yeah, like I said, it's nothing to do with tennis. Tennis is just the trigger moment.' Karen Khachanov echoed those sentiments and said he chose to take three weeks off post-US Open last year because he 'wasn't in the best state of mind' during the summer. 'At the end of the day it's not only about having this time off, it's about really being fair, honest and satisfied with yourself. So what is really bothering you, why you are not enjoying it?' asked Khachanov. Anisimova is a prime example of how taking time off to address burnout and mental health concerns can really be beneficial for one's career in the future. The American spent eight months away from the sport before returning in 2024 and has now reached a maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. Jabeur is just the latest in a string of players speaking up and choosing to put themselves first. Here's hoping others will take notice and opt to prioritise their mental well-being, because the way I see it, burnout may seem truly inevitable but it can also be avoidable with the right approach.
The National
2 days ago
- The National
As Ons Jabeur steps back from tennis, why more athletes are prioritising mental health
Ons Jabeur is the latest star athlete to step back from her sport to focus on her mental wellbeing. 'For the past two years I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges. But, deep down, I haven't felt happy on court for some time now,' Jabeur, 30, posted on social media on Thursday. 'Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal and to rediscover the joy of simply living.' Though the Tunisian tennis player may be the most recent to make such a move, she is far from alone. A growing number of elite performers, across several sports, have also chosen to prioritise their emotional and psychological health and it doesn't appear to be a trend that will go away anytime soon. In 2021, Naomi Osaka made headlines when she withdrew from the French Open, citing anxiety and depression. That same year, American gymnast Simone Biles stepped back from the all-around final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to the 'twisties,' a dangerous mental block that afflicts gymnasts. Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty followed, taking a break from the sport due to burnout and mental exhaustion after years of intense training and pressure. 'While the public often associates sport with passion, play and vitality, elite athletes face a paradox: the very thing that once brought joy can become a source of stress, pressure and disconnection,' Christi Gadd, a clinical psychologist at Thrive Wellbeing Centre in Dubai, tells The National. Jabeur, who has ranked as high as No 2 in the WTA world rankings and reached three Grand Slam finals in as many years, has spoken openly about the emotional toll. The same traits that make athletes successful – perfectionism, intense drive – can increase mental health vulnerabilities Dr Salman Kareem, specialist psychiatrist at Aster Royal Clinic '[I will] definitely try to disconnect a little bit from tennis and try to just enjoy life outside tennis, recover and spend a little bit of time with the family and hopefully that could recharge me. Definitely 'rest' is the word for it,' Jabeur said at a press conference after retiring from her first-round match due to injury at this year's Wimbledon on June 30. Jabeur's decision to take a break has opened up a deeper conversation around the emotional cost of competing at the highest level and how that pressure can quietly build over time. 'Many believe athletes have success and that should equal happiness. In reality, the same traits that make athletes successful – perfectionism, intense drive – can increase mental health vulnerabilities,' adds Dr Salman Kareem, specialist psychiatrist at Aster Royal Clinic, Downtown and Aster Clinic, JLT. 'Athletes are humans and experience the same range of emotions as everyone else, but increased in global stage and massive pressures.' That pressure only intensifies with greater success and visibility, says Gadd. Jabeur has become a household name in the region and around the world during her pursuit to become the first Arab and first African woman to lift a Grand Slam trophy. 'Performance pressure is not just about winning. It's about sustaining peak output, meeting sponsorship obligations, handling media attention and managing public criticism,' Gadd says. 'In the era of social media, this pressure is amplified. Athletes are no longer evaluated only by coaches and selectors, but also by millions of online spectators, many of whom comment with little empathy or insight. These dehumanising dynamics can chip away at self-esteem and promote perfectionism, fear of failure and emotional suppression.' During the 2023 Wimbledon final, Jabeur entered as the favourite and believed she could win. But, as she later revealed, the match carried a deeper emotional weight – one that went far beyond the title. 'People think I have this pressure because I want to do it for other people, which is not true. There was a personal thing going on there,' Jabeur revealed in the 2024 documentary This Is Me, which followed her journey through the 2023 tennis season, including the Wimbledon final. 'I win that [final], I could have a baby right away. And that dream faded. I was haunted by fear. After all, I'm just a human being, what can I do more?' Jabeur, who has long spoken about her desire to start a family with her husband, Karim, admitted that the emotional stakes made the loss all the more devastating. 'It was the toughest loss of my career because emotionally it destroyed me, not only winning Wimbledon, but the idea of having a baby just vanished with the trophy of Wimbledon. So I think that's what killed me and Karim, we were crying like babies.' Jabeur's emotional reaction just after Wimbledon reflects what many athletes silently endure – the psychological toll of relentless pressure, both on and off the court. 'Chronic performance pressure activates the body's stress response system continuously, leading to mental fatigue, sleep disruption and emotional dysregulation,' explains Dr Kareem. 'Athletes may lose the joy in their sport and experience symptoms similar to chronic stress disorders. This pressure can create a cycle where declining performance increases anxiety, further impacting performance. Gadd notes that mental health struggles also often begin well before they're acknowledged, either by the athlete or their support team. The early signs can be subtle: a loss of motivation, emotional numbness, disrupted sleep or eating patterns, or persistent injuries. 'Athletes are trained to endure and 'push through', which can delay help-seeking,' she adds. 'Emotional distress may only be recognised when performance dips or physical symptoms become unmanageable. This highlights the need for early psychological support as an integral part of training, not just as crisis intervention.' While many children grow up dreaming of becoming elite athletes, stories like Jabeur's offer a glimpse into the mental strain that often stays behind the scenes. 'When someone at the top says: 'I stepped back to rediscover joy', it reminds us all that performance and pleasure can co-exist – and that stepping back isn't giving up, but a step towards something deeper,' says Gadd. Dr Kareem adds: 'When athletes like Ons Jabeur share their experiences, it normalises mental health struggles and encourages others to seek help. This openness reduces stigma and shows that prioritising mental health is a sign of strength, not weakness.'
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Khaleej Times
Arab icon Ons Jabeur announces break from tennis 'to rediscover joy of living'
Former world number two Ons Jabeur announced on Thursday she was going to "take a step back and finally put myself first", after two difficult years on the circuit. "For the last two years, I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges. But deep down, I haven't felt really happy on the court for some time now," the 30-year-old three-time Grand Slam finalist explained on social media. "Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it's time to step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living," added the Tunisian world number 71. In June, Jabeur, the first Arab player to reach a Grand Slam final, was forced to retire from the first round at Wimbledon, having already lost her opener a few weeks earlier at the French Open. "I wasn't expecting not to feel good. I have been practising pretty well the last few days," said Jabeur, who did not specify the reason for her withdrawal. "These things happen. I'm pretty sad. It doesn't really help me with my confidence." After losing in Paris, Jabeur spoke of the strain the sport can exert on players. "Pushing through injury I've been doing, like, my whole life," she said. "We have a lot of guilt inside us saying we're not doing enough or it's not enough, the pressure from sponsors, the pressure from the ranking, the pressure of providing... some players provide for their families as well. "It is a very tough sport." A highly popular player on the circuit with both fans and fellow players alike, Jabeur was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023, as well at the US Open in 2022.
