Ons Jabeur was so disconsolate after her shock Wimbledon final defeat on Saturday that she told Kate, the Princess of Wales, that "hugs are always welcome".

In a moving moment on Centre Court, the wife of the heir to the British throne, gave the tearful Tunisian a warm embrace as she handed her the runners-up trophy.

"She didn't know if she wants to give me a hug or not. I told her hugs are always welcome from me. That was a very nice moment and she's always nice to me," Jabeur said after losing a second successive Wimbledon final.

When asked what Princess Kate told her following the 6-4, 6-4 loss to Marketa Vondrousova, she said: "Same thing after last year.

"To encourage me to be strong, to come back and win a Grand Slam, win a Wimbledon. Obviously she was very nice."

Jabeur has now lost all three of the Grand Slam finals in which she has appeared, only the eighth woman to have suffered such a fate.

dj/smg