Serena Williams' long-awaited return to the sport is very close, and successful coach Brad Gilbert thinks other players in the Wimbledon draw are panicking about the 23-time Grand Slam champion likely entering as an unseeded player at SW19.
Nearly 12 months have passed since Williams slipped on the Wimbledon grass during her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. That forced her to retire from the match, and Williams was visibly emotional when she left the court.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion has been sidelined with that injury ever since. Some of her passionate fanbase in the US and worldwide began to wonder if the 40-year-old would ever return to professional tennis.
Thankfully, Williams announced her return for the grass court season. After playing doubles next week at the Eastbourne International alongside Ons Jabeur, she will return to Grand Slam action at Wimbledon.
Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, is excited for Williams to return to the sport and thinks all the other players will feel anxious at Wimbledon, especially since she is unseeded.
It's great to have Serena back. It's been 12 months since she played at Wimbledon and got hurt. Now, 127 other women are going to be extremely worried about the draw when it comes out next Thursday, potentially seeing her unseeded.
However, although Gilbert thinks other players will be worried, he also acknowledges that Williams' changes depend on the draw since she will undoubtedly be rusty in her first matches back.
I would say her chances depend upon the draw. She could play the number one seed in the first round. I think more than anything, if she gets a decent draw, it's about getting a couple of wins, getting some confidence, and giving herself the opportunity to get to the second week. It's not about winning it at first, it's about getting
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