After a 14-month hiatus from the sport, Serena Williams has made a winning return to the tour with a 7-5, 6-3, win over Zarina Diyas at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The former world No.1, who last played at the 2017 Australian Open, was competitive as usual with shouts of ‘come on’ used to spur herself on. Although there were the inevitable signs of rust given her lengthy absence. Illustrated by a winner-error ratio of 34-27. Nevertheless, Williams managed to utilize the power of her game to overwhelm the world No.53 and move into the second round.
“It was incredible,” Williams said during her on-court interview. “It’s been over a year and a kid later and I get to go home now to her, so I’m excited about that. For all the ladies out there, I’m so excited to play on this night [on International Women’s Day]. It was meant to be, I think, so I’m really happy about that.”
The match was a very much a tale of two halves. During the first set both players looked firm behind their serve as 10 games went by with no breaks. Williams managed to secure her breakthrough at 5-5 when a lengthy rally between the two on break point concluded with a Diyas error. Prompting a roar of ‘come on’ as well as a fist clench from the 23-time grand slam champion. Serving for the 7-5 lead, Williams raced to 40-0 before converting her third set point.
Williams continued to be pressured by her rival during the second set, but this time it was in a different manner. Both players started to wobble behind their serve, resulting in four consecutive breaks. Still, it Williams managed to prevail after breaking for a fourth consecutive time to win the match.
“It definitely wasn’t easy. I played her several times before and we always have a couple of tight sets. But it was good. I was a little rusty, but it doesn’t matter. I’m out here on this journey doing the best I can.” She explained.
Williams has been absent from the tour after giving birth to her first child last September, a baby girl called Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Since then, she has also suffered from medical complications after the birth. Resulting in her being bed bound for six weeks.
The former world No.1 will next take on 29th seed Kiki Bertens in Indian Wells. Williams is a two-time champion of the event, last winning in 2001.
