Serena Williams made her grand return to competitive tennis this weekend, teaming up with sister Venus Williams in a doubles match at the Fed Cup in Asheville, North Carolina. She lost, but considering she had a baby only five months ago, and I keep putting off going for a run because I don’t feel like washing my sports bra, it seems like she’s still doing just fine.
The Williams sisters lost to 6-2 6-3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in the Fed Cup’s first round on Sunday. It was the first competitive match Serena Williams played since she won last year’s Australian Open while pregnant. Last month, she said she wouldn’t be competing in this year’s Australian Open because she was “not where I personally want to be,” having lost a match against Jelena Ostapenko at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in December. That was three months after Williams gave birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., who attended Sunday’s match clad in a very stylish American flag headband.
Alexis is the only good patriot, as you can see.
Williams had a rough recovery after giving birth to Alexis, having suffered from postpartum blood clots as well as a torn C-section incision that rendered her bedridden for six weeks. So it’s understandable that she may need some time to regain her official title as the world’s greatest female tennis player, though she’s certainly held her standing as one of the world’s greatest women, period.
Meanwhile, prior to losing to the doubles match, on Sunday morning Venus Williams beat Richel Hogenkamp 7-5, 6-1 in a singles match, earning a 3-0 victory for the United States in the best-of-five event. Still, Alexis is the true champion.