Ons Jabeur is about to join a (very) exclusive list of Serena Williams’ doubles partners

As if Serena Williams returning to singles competition at Wimbledon weren’t exciting enough, she’ll actually be returning to competition in doubles a week before that at the grass-court lead-up event in Eastbourne next week, it was announced on Tuesday—and that she'll be partnering another history-maker in Ons Jabeur.

“I am excited to return to the Rothesay International tournament in England and to be back on the grass—a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career,” Serena told the LTA. “Eastbourne has a unique charm that you don’t see anywhere else on tour and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again.”

“When I got the news I was over the moon,” Jabeur said.

“It’s such a privilege for me. Very lucky that she picked me. Hopefully we’re going to have a great tournament, and I cannot wait to be in Eastbourne this year.”

In singles, Serena has won more Grand Slam titles than any other tennis player in the Open Era, male or female, with 23 of them—including seven Wimbledon titles.

But her doubles resume is legendary, too. She has 23 career WTA doubles titles, including 14 majors with her sister, Venus Williams—including six Wimbledons.

Serena has played doubles almost exclusively with Venus in her career, which makes her pairing with Jabeur even more exciting: Jabeur will be just the fifth woman other than Venus that Serena has ever played doubles with in tour-level competition.

SERENA’S CAREER RECORD IN DOUBLES: 190-34
182-31 with Venus Williams (22 career WTA doubles titles together, incl. 14 majors)
4-0 with Alexandra Stevenson (1 career WTA doubles title at 2002 Leipzig)
3-1 with Caroline Wozniacki (reached F of 2020 Auckland)
1-1 with Martina Navratilova (reached QFs of 2002 Tokyo)
0-1 with Alison Riske (played one Billie Jean King Cup match in 2015)
... record TBD with Ons Jabeur

Additionally, with all of the matches she played with Navratilova, Stevenson and Wozniacki coming on hard courts and Riske on clay, Jabeur will be only the second player she’s ever played doubles with on grass—she’s played 12 grass-court events with Venus (11 Wimbledons and one Olympics, which was held at Wimbledon).