Ons Jabeur recently pulled out from the 2024 Paris Olympics to prioritize her physical conditioning for the remainder of the season. The Tunisian’s withdrawal comes at the same time as that of World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, leading many tennis fans to question the structure of the annual tour schedule and how it impacts the top players.

In her statement on social media, Jabeur claimed that playing at the quadrennial event, which will be held at Roland Garros, would “put her knee at risk and jeopardize the rest of her season”.

Currently, the top 50 WTA players who have declined to compete at the 2024 Paris Games include Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur, Liudmila Samsonova and Elise Mertens. Fans on X (formerly Twitter) were left shaken up by the above withdrawals on Monday (June 17).

One fan hilariously suggested that World No. 1 Iga Swiatek would now have very little resistance in her path, considering her top rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur will be sitting out of the Olympics.

“Iga’s going to win Gold, Silver, and Bronze!” they wrote.

Another fan, meanwhile, took umbrage at the WTA Tour schedule. They asserted that factors such as several two-week 1000-level mandatory events and an extremely short off-season contributed to players missing the Olympics.

“The failure of tennis to schedule better is the real story here. The lack of off season, the bizarre extended Masters, the ball changes & injuries,” they wrote.

Here are a few more reactions from the tennis community on social media:

“#Tennis shouldv reorganised the season ffs,” one fan wrote.

“Honestly, tennis calendar cannot accommodate a clay Olympics. Like it’s just way too many transitions given how it falls between Wimbledon and North American HC Swing,” another fan suggested.

“Tennis should be removed from the Olympics if the athletes show no interest,” one fan wrote.

“Let’s face it: The Olympics is not a priority to tennis players. No one cares,” another wrote.

“Make sense, tennis is not an Olympic sport I regret to tell you. It’s an add on,” one fan claimed.

“Well, Iga’s chance for 🥇 rising. I will never understand choosing a tournament that happens EVERY year over one that is only once every 4 years,” wrote another.

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Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka both competed at the Tokyo Olympics

Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur both competed in the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Sabalenka was the third seed in the tournament and started the tournament with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win over Magda Linette. She then faced Donna Vekic in the second round, and the Croat won the first set 6-4. Sabalenka bounced back to win the second set 6-3 before Vekic edged her out in the final set to register a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) win.

Ons Jabeur was unseeded at the Tokyo Olympics and suffered a 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Carla Suarez Navarro in the opening round. The was the Tunisian’s second successive first-round loss at the Olympics, having lost to Daria Kasatkina in Rio in 2016.