Serena Williams continues return to action with help from Jabeur in Eastbourne

Former world number one Serena Williams will continue her return to competitive action on Wednesday in a doubles match at the Eastbourne International with partner Ons Jabeur against Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chan.

Williams and Jabeur came from a set down on Tuesday to see off Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova.

The pair squandered two match points and saved one before prevailing 2-6, 6-3, 13-11.

Aoyama and Chan advanced to the last eight following a three-set win over the fourth seeds Lucie Hradecka and Sania Mirza.

Williams, 40, has not featured on the WTA circuit since she injured her hamstring and abandoned her first round match at Wimbledon last year.

Time
“I'm literally taking it one day at a time,” Williams said after the 84-minute victory. “I really took my time with my hamstring injury so I'm just not making a ton of decisions after this.”

Williams, who has been given an invitation to play at Wimbledon where she has won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, admitted questioning herself about whether to continue playing professionally.

“I would be dishonest if I said I hadn't been doing that," she said.

"Now my body feels great. It's doubles, I'm only playing half the court. I've been doing a lot of training and it definitely feels good.”

However, she refused to commit to the 2023 tour even if she were fit.

“I don't know. I can't answer that.," she added. "I love tennis and I love playing or else I wouldn't be out here, right?

"But I also love what I do off the court. It's interesting, so it's a lot.”