Serena Williams made her long-awaited comeback to tennis earlier this year in England on grass, and she will continue playing, with the Canadian Open and US Open events she'll likely attend.
Williams had been away from tennis since Wimbledon last year, where she unfortunately suffered an injury on the slippery courts. She had been working on her return for much of this year, but it didn’t happen until recently.
Her first event back was the Eastbourne International, where she played doubles with Ons Jabeur. Her next event was Wimbledon, where she faced Harmony Tan in the opening round.
It wasn’t a winning effort, but Williams confirmed that she’s ready to battle on the court, with her focus shifting towards the US Open and the events leading up to it.
As of now, she’s confirmed to play at the Canadian Open, even though she’ll likely play in Cincinnati as well. The goal, however, is the US Open as the Grand Slam, and to better prepare for the event, her husband, Alexis Ohanian, built a special tennis court at their home.
The construction was done very deliberately so that the court mimics the US Open surface as closely as possible, allowing Williams to prepare for that type of court without having to be physically present in New York.
It’s a huge advantage for Williams, who can now practice on the surface she’ll play on in New York, which isn’t something other tennis players have. Generally, a player would have to wait to get to New York for that opportunity, but having a millionaire husband who is a great supporter of what you do and being the most successful female tennis player of all time certainly helps.
Williams needs practice time because she lacks match fitness. Her Wimbledon performance was fairly decent level-wise, but it was clear towards the end of the match that she lacked the fitness to finish off the match.
More practice will help with that, but also more matches. There are a few events before the US Open, and she’s expected to play in most of them, even though it remains to be seen if she does, given the unpredictability of such comebacks to sport.