How the unlikely setting of Eastbourne helped Serena Williams 'find her fire' ahead of Wimbledon

Often people can regain their spark in the most unlikely of places and for Serena Williams, that happened to be Eastbourne.

It's almost odd to think a 23-time Grand Slam champion could be consumed by doubt as she strode on to the centre court at Devonshire Park but it's almost a year since the American last played competitively after injuring herself during a fall in the first round at last year's Wimbledon.

Thoughts had turned to retirement and many tennis experts and followers believed that one of the best players ever to pick up racket would never be seen on court again.

But on Tuesday that changed as the 40-year-old made her return at Eastbourne and added a touch of star quality to the tennis week.

She partnered Tunisian player Ons Jabeur in the doubles and despite a few wobbles in the first set, they powered back to a 2-6 6-3 13-11 win against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo and Czech Marie Bouzkova.

"I caught some fire in the end. I needed that," said Williams, who previously said she feared her career was over.

The duo then booked their place in the semi-final thanks to Wednesday's 6-2 6-4 win against Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chanas as the Williams and Jabeur’s partnership began to look a powerful and formidable force.

“We played together much better today although I thought we played well yesterday, today was better.

"Ons really held me up today, she was really playing so good. I was just looking at her ‘like wow this is great’," said Williams.

It's also been a largely successful week for the British players.

Cameron Norrie defeated qualifier Brandon Nakashima on Wednesday in straight sets 6-4 6-2 and reached his second quarter-finals at Devonshire Park and his seventh of the year.

"I was a little bit nervous going out there, as I hadn’t won a match on the grass this year," said the British No 1. "Eastbourne is really special for me, it was where I got my first-ever ATP win.

"I love coming here and it was also nice to get some matches before Wimbledon."

Harriet Dart also produced some classy tennis as she reached the last eight by outlasting Marta Kostyuk 6-4 2-6 6-4.

The British No 2 had used the momentum she gained from beating world No 23 Jil Teichmann just an hour before.

Dart will re-enter the top-100 and achieve a new career-high ranking.

Rising star Jack Draper impressed on his Devonshire Park debut as the powerful left-hander reached his second-career tour-level quarter-final after taking care of world No 15 Diego Schwartzman in straight sets 7-5 7-6(3).

“It was a good battle and I’m really happy to get the win," Draper said. "It’s been a good few weeks and I feel really confident.

"Playing against these top guys is what I need week in week out.

"British tennis is doing well. We all try to push each other to be better and to move up the rankings."

Elsewhere, Katie Boulter battled hard against a two-time Wimbledon champion but fell just shy of reaching back-to-back WTA quarterfinals, as Petra Kvitova won 5-7 6-0 7-5 after two hours and 30 minutes.