Dominant Jabeur shows why Serena is such a fan
Ons Jabeur’s description of being asked to play doubles with serena Williams sounded like a struggle with imposter syndrome. ‘If she had asked me two or three years ago, I would have played horribly and not handled the pressure,’ the no 3 seed related yesterday. ‘Tennis is a tricky sport. You can lose every week, which is not fine. I know about struggling with confidence.’
The Tunisian’s emphatic first-round win over swede Mirjam bjorklund, which suggested she may play a big part in the next two weeks, proved that those doubts are in the past. becoming the first african or arab woman to reach the last eight here last year helped.
Last week she became the world no 2 and africa’s highest-ranked singles player ever. but it’s clear that partnering Williams on her return at eastbourne last week has been significant. ‘she picked me to be her partner and playing alongside serena, you’re gaining confidence.’ the 27-year-old said. ‘being a leader on court is what I want to be.’ she was commanding against world no 125 bjorklund, mixing punched forehands on a minimal back-lift — a big part of her game — with trademark drop shots. nobody on the women’s tour executes those to better effect. a drop shot sealed the first set before bjorklund could register a punch. The north african won 6-1, 6-3 in just 54 minutes and will play Polish qualifier Katarzyna Kawa in the second round. Meanwhile, british no 7 Lily Miyazaki nearly caused a huge upset — to set up a second-round clash with emma raducanu — but was edged out by France’s Caroline Garcia in a final-set tie-break. Garcia surprisingly dropped the first set against the world no 199 but bounced back to win 4-6, 6-1, 7-6. Katie swan will face ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk this morning after yesterday’s match was postponed.