‘Queen’ Serena boosting Ons Jabeur to ‘become a leader on court’
Serena Williams has played a notable part in how Ons Jabeur was able to banish memories of her last Slam match in Paris.
Newly-crowned world number two Jabeur put her first round Roland Garros loss far in the past today by finishing her contest with Mirjam Bjorklund 6-1, 6-3 in under an hour to open play on Court No. 1 at Wimbledon.
Tennishead asked the Tunisian how her mentality had shifted from Roland Garros last month to now, and how much of a part Serena had to play in that change.
She responded, smiling: “I don’t like to make the same mistake twice.
“Like I said before, I learned a lot from the first round in Roland Garros.
“Obviously everything feels different here [at Wimbledon].
“I feel more ready.”
Williams hand-picked Jabeur to play alongside her in the Eastbourne doubles.
That trust has done wonders for Jabeur’s confidence, who despite now being world number two has been incredibly humble and understated in her self-estimations of late.
She continued in her answer to Tennishead on Serena’s influence: “[I gained] more confidence playing with Serena.
“She also helped me with a great attitude on the court.
“It helped me, I’m kind of starting to be a leader on the court.
“That’s what I’m trying to do, trying to have that attitude.”
Despite this comment, Jabeur made sure to clarify that Serena was the leader in their doubles team-up.
“She’s the queen,” Jabeur said.
The Arab star will face Rebecca Marino of Canada or Katarzyna Kawa of Poland next.
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