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SteemSports Editor:
23-time Grand Slam singles Champion, Serena Williams, has comfortably won her first singles match on the WTA tour, following her return to action after child birth almost 14 months ago. The 36-year old American tennis star qualified for the second round of at the Indian Wells following a convincing victory over Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan.
The match was her very first singles match on the WTA Tour since last year’s Australian Open which she won and subsequently announced that she was pregnant during the tournament.
Serena admitted that she was still a little bit rusty and it wasn’t easy but that is was good. The very iconic tennis star had her husband Alexis Ohanian in the crowd watching and cheering her on, through the encounter.
The road to her victory started with a standing ovation from the crowd as she walked onto the court. Williams, who has been off the top of the rankings since taking time off to give birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, on 1 September 2017, said post-childbirth complications which included blood clots in the lungs were almost fatal.
She missed the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, as she admitted that she wasn’t enough to compete in the tournament. Her only on-court match was as exhibition match for the US Fed Cup team against Netherlands in Abu Dhabi, last month.
In her interview after the win against Zarina Diyas, Williams said that her return and performance was incredible; as it has been over a year and a kid later. She admitted that she’s just on the journey to do her best and get up to scratch. Considering that Williams did not lose too many match points in the opening set, and her powerful serves which proved to be a strong foundation in the opener, it aided her confidence as she struck very good winners on her way to winning the first set.
In the second set, Zarina Diyas showed some resistance, but it was not to be for the Kazakh player, as she succumbed to the might and resilience of the experienced 23-Grand Slam winner, Serena Williams. Williams' victory in the very first round over Diyas means she has set up a second-round clash with Kiki Bertens, the 29th seeded Dutch Player.
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