The former world No. 1 returned to top tennis, after more than a year off to give birth.
Serena Williams has not yet competed officially since winning the 2017 Australian Open without losing a set, when she learned she was pregnant and then gave birth to her first daughter last September. The former world No. 1 picked up the racket again, playing against Jelena Ostapenko at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in December 2017. Despite the defeat, the 23-time Grand Slam champion still won a set against the 2017 Roland Garros champion.
In early February 2018, Serena paired with her sister Venus in the US national team, meeting the Dutch duo Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs at the Fed Cup. However, this is only a procedural match because the US team has officially won tickets to the semi-finals and the Williams sisters still cannot win.
Before this year’s Australian Open, Serena plans to return to play to defend her title. However, the 36-year-old female tennis player later changed her decision and withdrew from the first Grand Slam tournament of the year because she was not healthy enough to compete. Indian Wells 2018 kicks off in California, USA this week as the first official tournament, marking the return of the American female tennis player.
“I will compete at Indian Wells. This is the official announcement. This Thursday (March 8), I started returning to professional tennis, for the first time since giving birth to my daughter. For the past month, I have been training hard in California and Florida, my two home states. On Thursday, the day I played my first match, was International Women’s Day. This is a special day and I want to do something special,” Serena shared.
Recently, the former world number 1 shockingly revealed that she almost died giving birth to baby Olympia. At that time, Serena had to have an emergency cesarean section after doctors discovered the fetus’s heart rate suddenly decreased. The surgery was successful, but the American tennis player was later discovered to have blood clots in his lungs and doctors had to open the stitches for treatment. This process left her bedridden six weeks.
“I’m ready, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. If I’m not ready now, I will never be. I feel like in two months I’ll be playing better than I am now but I need a place to start. I don’t want to continue sitting on the sidelines and thinking about coming back anymore,” Serena affirmed her readiness for Indian Wells.
According to the draw results of the 2018 Indian Wells women’s singles division, seeded players such as Halep, Wozniacki, Muguruza… only started competing from round 2. Meanwhile, the focus is on Serena and Sharapova when both Former world No. 1 starts from round 1. Serena will play against Zarina Diyas scheduled for March 8 (morning March 9 Vietnam time). Serena’s start in the tournament is considered quite gentle if the Williams sister plays properly.
