Serena Williamsis returning to the Australian Open for the first time since welcoming her daughterAlexis Olympia.
Williams, who won the 2016 Australian Open while she was early into her pregnancy, is back in Melbourne for the annual tournament — and she’s ready to win her 24th Grand Slam title.
Shortly after sharing two photos which appeared to show the 37-year-old tennis starpracticing on the courtsin Melbourne, Williams shared a video of herself looking focused as she worked on her swings and footwork.
“Ready,” she captioned the short clip, including the hashtag “AusOpen.”
The Australian Open, which Williams has already won seven times, begins on Monday, Jan. 14 and will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 27.
Williams’ first match will be on Tuesday, against Germany’s Tatjana Maria.
Although Williams was pregnant during her last appearance at the Australian Open in January 2016, no one knew at the time.
Williams went on to tellVanity Fairthat her “heart dropped,” when she initially found out the news., adding that she thought, “Oh my God, this can’t be – I’ve got to play a tournament. How am I going to play the Australian Open? I had planned on winning in Wimbledon this year.”
Serena Williams/Instagram
The tennis star initially planned on competing in the Australian Open last year, but made the decision towithdrawjust 12 days before the start of the tournament.
“After performing in my first match after giving birth I realized that although I am super close I’m not where I personally want to be,” she wrote in a statement. “My coach and team always said ‘Only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way.’”
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Williams went on toplay in Wimbledon, where she ended up losing in the final match, and recently took onRoger Federerfor thefirst time in a doubles matchat the Hopman Cup in Australia, according to theAssociated Press.
In front of a crowd of 14,000, Federer, representing Switzerland, took the court with Belinda Benic and beat Williams, who played alongside Frances Tiafoe, five games to three, theBBCreported.
After the match, the athletes — who have 43 Grand Slam titles between the two of them — took a selfie on the court. The mother of one posted the sweet picture to her Instagram with thecaption: “Goat vs Goat. The Goat won.” She used the goat emoji as a stand-in for the acronym GOAT, meaning “Greatest of All Time.”
source: people.com
