Ons Jabeur sweeps Mirjam Bjorklund aside in confident first-round victory

If there was an element of relief in the voice of Ons Jabeur on Monday as she avoided a second consecutive first-round defeat at a grand slam event, there was also a notable strength and belief coming from the Tunisian as she begins a fortnight she hopes will end in historic victory.

The Tunisian, a quarter-finalist last year, opened her Wimbledon campaign with a confident 6-1, 6-3 win against Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden, a far cry from her first-round defeat at the French Open last month. “I don’t like to make the same mistake twice,” she said, with a smile.

Having struggled with expectations in Paris, Jabeur bounced back by winning the title in Berlin, before partnering Serena Williams in doubles in Eastbourne last week on the American’s return from a year out through injury. Arriving at Wimbledon as the new world No 2 – the highest ranking for any African player in history – has brought its own pressure, but she looks to be enjoying it.

“Last time I was thinking about pressure, didn’t work very well for me,” she said, referring to Paris. “It is great pressure. I’m trying to handle it. Obviously I have never been in this situation before. I was joking with [Novak] Djokovic, I told him: ‘Give me some of the touch to win Wimbledon.’ I was stealing it. It’s great. I’m going to take each match at a time and see what’s happening. Obviously I want to turn that great pressure into great things on the court.

“Tennis is a tricky sport,” said Jabeur, who will play Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa in the second round. “You can lose every week, which is not fun. But the thing is, like I said before in the beginning of the season, I was like No 10 and 9, I said, I belong in this ranking and I don’t feel I deserve the spot to be maybe 5 or 4.