Jabeur sporting Saudi brand Kayanee in Melbourne

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MELBOURNE, Australia – When Ons Jabeur played Aryna Sabalenka a little over a week ago in Saudi Arabia, she was wearing Lotto – as she has the last number of years.

But as she arrives at the Australian Open (without having played any tuneup events), and practiced on Rod Laver Arena Monday under the closed roof she wasn’t.

Jabeur – and her husband and trainer Karim – were wearing Kayanee.

Hours after we posted this, her reps sent out an official release.

It signifies, if we didn’t already figure this out, that Jabeur is all in on Saudi Arabia and its recent interest in tennis.

There’s a lot in there.

The launch, per the press release, hasn’t happened yet but is “imminent”. It will “engage women to have fun while getting fit, positioning entertainment as the ultimate motivator”.

“At Kayanee, wellbeing and stimulating experiences merge together to bring what the mind wants and the body needs,” with a flagship store opening soon in Riyadh, along with an e-commerce website.

Kayanee is a new women’s lifestyle company founded last August, funded by the Saudi PIF and chaired by Princess Reema bint Bandar-Al Saud.

It is reportedly under the umbrella of “Saudi Arabia’s ongoing transformation towards female empowerment unver Vision 2030”, the Arab News wrote.

And this “integrated company” was established to “promote quality of life for women”.

It “will focus on various aspects of women’s health and lifestyle, including fitness, sportswear, personal and therapeutic care, nutrition, diagnostics, and wellness education. … The primary objective of Kayanee is to address crucial topics related to women, such as mental, social, and physical health, with the ambition of benefiting over one million individuals.”

***Jabeur sported Lotto in Riyadh for an exhibition at the end of December, 2023. But it’s now 2024.***

Its own motto is this: “We are Kayanee, and we are creating the ultimate destination where purpose meets performance, inspiring and enabling the balanced fitness of women.”

As one of most high-profile Arab women in the sports world, this would seem to be a fairly synergistic fit.