"I'm really nervous to play" - Jabeur feels the pressure of teaming up with Serena Williams

Ons Jabeur will play doubles with Serena Williams in Eastbourne and while very excited she's also quite nervous about it.

When the Tunisian-American duo take the court for their first-round match against Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, it will mark Williams' first match on the Hologic WTA Tour in nearly 12 months. Speaking about that, Jabeur said:

"I wanted to tell everyone but obviously I couldn't. I told my family, but even my close friends, I didn't tell anyone. Excited, really lucky that she picked me. I'm pretty glad that I can share the court with her. I always watched Serena playing and always supported her. She's such a legend and such an example for our sport. I'm really nervous to play. I hope the match will be great and we'll have great matches."

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The surprise pairing came about after Eric Hechtmann, who has been Venus Williams' coach since 2019 and is now working with Serena as well, reached out to Jabeur's coach Issam Jellali before the French Open to see if there was any interest.

Jabeur added:

"I don't know why she picked me to be honest. Maybe she watched Madrid. I met her a few times outside the court and she was always nice. I remember exchanging pins with her in Rio. I respect her so much."