WIMBLEDON, England -- When the draw came out last Friday, Ons Jabeur did her best to ignore it. She doesn’t like to get ahead of herself and resists the urge to discover what potential challenges are in her path.

It worked for a while, but scrolling through social media, Jabeur quickly realized it was going to require a monumental effort in the bottom half of the Wimbledon draw to match last year’s breakthrough performance, her first major final.

“I try not to look,” Jabeur told reporters, drawing laughter. “But I’ve seen some projected that I know they play the same day as me. I see so many players that I know play the same day as me. I feel like our side of the draw is more packed than the [top half].”

Wimbledon: Scores | Draws | Order of play

She’s not kidding. Six of the Top 10 seeds are on her side, including No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and No.3 Elena Rybakina. Jabeur could face two-time Wimbledon winner No. 9 Petra Kvitova in the fourth round and, potentially, defending champion Rybakina in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open back in January, could await in the semifinals.

The first of the necessary seven steps, however, is already behind her. On a cold and sodden Tuesday, the No.6 seed from Tunisia took care of Magdalena Frech, 6-3, 6-3 under the Court No.1 roof. It was among only a handful of completed matches on a Day 2 washout.

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Jabeur has now won both her career matches against the Polish player, going back to a three-set victory earlier this year at Indian Wells. Frech, ranked No.70, is now 0-9 against Top 10 players. Her best Grand Slam performance to date came here a year ago when she reached the third round.

Jabeur has played 22 matches on grass since start of 2021, one ahead of Jelena Ostapenko -- who Wednesday plays a match against Greet Minnen that was postponed from Tuesday -- for the most on the Hologic WTA Tour.

Last year was, by far, Jabeur’s best. While she lost to Rybakina in the final at the All England Club, she matched that effort at the season’s final Grand Slam, the US Open. Jabeur fell to Swiatek in the final, but it all added up to a year-end No.2 ranking and a stirring string of firsts for Arab and African women.

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This year has been something of a scramble for the 28-year-old. She underwent minor knee surgery after the Australian Open and missed the Middle East swing, her home territory, entirely. Struggling to get fit, she dropped two of three matches in the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. Clay was more encouraging; Jabeur won the Charleston 500 and reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. Before Wimbledon, she lost two of three matches in Berlin and Eastbourne.

Returning to Wimbledon has been uplifting on all fronts.

“People mentioning I’m the finalist of last year. It’s not great going in the locker room and seeing Elena's picture, but I try to take it off,” Jabeur said. “It’s very nice, having the attention. You did a Grand Slam final. It’s not a bad thing. It’s something that it’s great. Maybe sometimes I didn’t see it that way because obviously I wanted to go for the title.”

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Jabeur’s pleasingly diverse game plays so well on grass. Against Frech, she offered the usual complement of slices and drop shots, but also served exceptionally well. Up 3-2, 30-30 in the first set, Jabeur dialed up the heat, ripping back-to-back aces at 111 mph. Some 18 of 52 serves from Jabeur were unreturnable (35 percent) and she won 21 of 24 first-serve points.

Jabeur said she has yet to sit down and watch the Wimbledon final from beginning to end. But she has watched the Netflix episode of “Break Point” that focuses on it.

Now streaming: Netflix's 'Break Point'

“It was very emotional for us,” Jabeur said. “It’s tough to look back at the final. I’ve watched couple other videos, happy ones, the Tunisian crowd, everybody supporting. It was great.

“I just want to use that experience, use the pressure that I felt last year, to maybe do better this year. That’s how Grand Slams work. You need a good draw from here, a nice match from here, you fight from there, and see what’s going to happen. My first goal here is to really enjoy playing on grass, maybe recreate greater memories like last year or the year before.”