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Playing in her first tournament since retiring from the opening round of Wimbledon injured last year, Williams acknowledged she was particularly reliant on Jabeur during their 6-2 6-4 success over Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching.
The 23-time grand slam singles champion opted to only play doubles on the south coast as she gears up for a return to the All England Club.
"I think we played together much better," said Williams. "Although I thought we played really good together [against Maria Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo] too.
"But Ons really held me up. She was really playing so good. I was looking at her and was like, 'Wow, this is great.' It's good."
Williams and Jabeur will take on Aleksandra Krunic and Magda Linette for a place in the final.
Jabeur playfully asked the 40 year-old if she would like to play together at the US Open, to which the former world number one responded: "Sign me up!"
"I'm getting used to this. It was really great to play here and I didn't know we are in the semi-finals. It's super fast, but it's great for us."
