TUNISIA'S ONS JABEUR, FIRST ARAB TENNIS 🎾 PLAYER TO REACH TOP 10

Cara Black has backed Tunisia's Ons Jabeur to cope with both the pressure of being Africa's top tennis player and her bid to win a first Grand Slam title.

Zimbabwean Black, who reached number one in the world as a doubles player, admits that coping with the expectations of not only her country but a whole continent is going to be one of Jabeur's main challenges.

Jabeur rose to number two in the WTA rankings on Monday to make her the highest-ever ranked African singles player (male or female) in the open era.

The 27-year-old followed the news with a straight-sets win over Mirjam Bjorklund in the first round at Wimbledon, where she will play Poland's Katarzyna Kawa in the second round on Wednesday.

Jabeur is looking to progress past the quarter-finals of a slam for the first time, having lost in the first round at the French Open last month.

"That is probably one of the biggest things that Ons is going to have to try and face," Black told BBC Sport Africa.

Coming off of the big win in Madrid and then final in Rome and then getting to the French Open, she felt like she was one of the hot favourites.

"Whereas before she's gone into the slams under the radar a little, now she's in the spotlight.