Serena Williams skipped her scheduled practice session at the Eastbourne grass-court tournament at late notice on Monday as the 23-time Grand Slam champion prepares to make her return to competition after a year away.
Williams trained at a nearby club over the weekend and was expected to have an on-site session at Devonshire Park ahead of playing doubles with Ons Jabeur.
They were to face Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova yesterday in their first match.
Photo: Reuters
The 40-year-old Williams, who has not competed anywhere since she was injured in the first round of Wimbledon last year, was awarded a wild card for singles at the All England Club.
Jabeur said it was “unbelievable” to have been asked by Williams to be part of her journey back to competition.
“I’m a good secret keeper — yes, I’ve known [since] before the French Open,” said the third-ranked Jabeur, who arrived at Eastbourne after winning the title in Berlin on Sunday.
“Many players were jealous because I’m playing with her. Serena is Serena. She is a legend and always will be,” she said.
“Now I’m joking with other doubles players,” she said. “I was like: ‘If you have minus-20 grand slams, don’t even ask me to play doubles with you anymore.’”
Jabeur pulled out of the singles at Eastbourne following her run to the title in Germany and is to play only doubles. Still, she is likely to be kept busy this week given who she is partnering with.
“I cannot wait to see her. I haven’t seen her yet,” Jabeur said of Williams. “Hopefully we will get together and talk a little bit and see, because I’m really pumped.”
In second-round matches, Alison Riske of the US was beaten by Magda Linette of Poland 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4), while fifth-seeded Garbine Muguruza beat Magdalena Frech 6-1, 7-6 (7).
In women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Japan’s Shuko Aoyama edged the duo Sania Mirza of India and fourth-seeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-7 (3), 10-7 in the round-of-16.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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