• Jabeur said the money raised would be used to buy “drugs and medical equipment”
• The auction will last 48 hours with Jabeur hoping to raise enough to fund a resuscitation bed

TUNIS: Ons Jabeur, the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last week, announced on Monday that she is auctioning one of her racquets to help hospitals in her native Tunisia fight Covid-19.

Jabeur, who will add a personal donation to the amount collected during the sale, said the money raised would be used to buy “drugs and medical equipment.”

“It is for a good cause,” Jabeur said on Instagram. “I cannot stay here to watch my country go through difficult situations.”

The raquet, which Jabeur used in her Wimbledon victories over Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek, went on sale Monday for 2,000 dinars ($720).

The auction will last 48 hours with Jabeur hoping to raise enough to fund a resuscitation bed which costs in the region of 30,000 dinars.

Tunisia is facing a record number of Covid-19 contaminations with public hospitals facing an unprecedented influx of patients.

Tunisia, which has the “highest” Covid-19 death rate in the region according to the World Health Organization, is currently at more than 16,000 deaths for 12 million inhabitants.

AFP