Serena Williams has an aura as a global icon who is a perfectionist in her pursuit of re-writing the tennis history books. The seven-time Wimbledon champion has made the last two finals at SW19, falling to Angelique Kerber (2018) and Simona Halep (2019).

The 39-year-old keeps putting in the hard yards, pushing to find that extra edge to land that elusive 24th Grand Slam.

Frequently over the net is 'chameleon' Jarmere Jenkins, who is trusted to test the armoury of Williams on the practice courts as her touring hitting partner.

"Of many things, she does these three things extremely well; She hits the ball very hard, flat and deep near the baseline which makes my job super difficult at times," mused the American, talking to wimbledon.com.

"After four years, each time I step on the court with her is an honour and a privilege. For what she is trying to accomplish, I just want to be as perfect for her all the time. It's tough to put it in words, it's more a feeling I get. She demands excellence, I try to be that every time. Over four years there has been such consistency, I feel like I'm doing a great job."

Jenkins has all the credentials on his CV. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), Jenkins was absorbed into a tennis family of eight siblings.

"Tennis just stuck with us. I'd come home from school, get my work done and then spend the rest of the day playing tennis. It was so engrained as part of my life and as part of my daily routine; I was never into any other hobbies or sport. It was all about tennis."

Talent was evident from an early age and by 2013 he'd become the standout star of college tennis as MVP at the University of Virginia, collecting plenty of silverware and accolades.

On to the professional circuit, Jenkins peaked at world No.190, featured in qualifying at all four Grand Slams, but in 2017 he called it a day.

"It's tough out here. Seeing how things are done at the top level with Serena, it let me know how far I was away from doing it the right way. You need a team surrounding you and for the most part I was by myself out there" explained the 30-year-old.

"There's so much background knowledge too, how to take care of your body, being in the right mental space. That's where the right support team comes in, to have that confidence, to kind of balance you out because you can over exaggerate your downs and you don't want to over exaggerate your highs."

Serena certainly has a stellar support team, involving Patrick Mouratoglou as coach and Florida-based Jenkins embracing life on tour with Williams.

The whole crew takes training blocks at the Mouratoglou Academy in Nice (France), which was where Williams geared up for Wimbledon and found time to offer advice to student athletes at their graduation.

It's also the destination where Jenkins got signed up to train Serena style. It all started from a recommendation from his brother, who was Venus Williams's hitting partner in 2017.

"I got a text from Jermaine, he'd mentioned to Venus, Venus mentioned me to Serena and they reached out to me," reflected the 30-year-old. "I then got a text from Patrick asking me to go to the academy for a trial week or so, just to see how I hit. Serena wasn't there but that week I actually hit with Coco (Gauff). It was an interesting week.

"I was kind of nervous, which never really happened outside of matches, but I just wanted to make a good impression and four years later I'm still here."

Being able to go toe to toe with one of the greatest athletes of all time, to help train a 23-time Grand Slam champion is a monumental task.

"You're just trying to be a chameleon, trying to detail your game to the type of opponent she's about to face. You want to push her, to give her confidence, but at the same time you don't want to make it too easy for her," explained Jenkins

"I guess you're there to maximise every practice, I have to match her intensity, focus, and level of engagement. I just try to give her the best level of practice possible so that she feels invincible when she goes to play a match."

Since Jenkins has teamed up with the Mouratoglou Academy and Williams in 2017, he's been an integral part of her run to four major finals.

"I have always appreciated her work ethic, to see how meticulous she is, how detailed she is, how she wants to perfect everything," enthused Jenkins. "Her drive and determination on a daily basis is what makes her great. How she balances everything, that's what is so impressive. You'll see us outside the Slams, and she's giving it her all. She is still willing to improve, develop her game, to add new tools.

"The willingness of that, at this stage of her career to me is pretty impressive, there's so much humility. We're here to win but off court there is plenty of jokes and jibes from Serena.

"She loves making fun of me because I'm not as big as my older brother Jermaine. He's pretty muscular, so every time I wear some baggy clothes, she makes fun of me for taking Jermaine's clothes. I've been trying to bulk up in the gym," noted Jenkins with a grin. "She loves dancing, I'm that guy standing by the wall watching, unless I get a couple of Pimm's."

Back to business and perhaps the Williams camp can sip some Pimm's in two weeks time.