After a year away, Serena Williams wins her first match back. Williams will now play at least one more challenging match before competing as a wild card in singles at Wimbledon thanks to the victory. The All England Club's main-draw matches begin on Monday. Serena Williams entered centre court at Eastbourne to a standing ovation for her first competitive tennis match in nearly a year as "What A Feeling" blared across Devonshire Park. A victory for the 23-time Grand Slam singles winner 90 minutes later at the Wimbledon warm-up match on the south coast of England had the crowd up on its feet once more.
In the opening round of the women's doubles on Tuesday, Williams and Ons Jabeur defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova. After dropping the opening set 6-2, Williams and Jabeur came back to win the second 6-3 and the tiebreaker 13-11 on their third match point. Williams will now play at least one more challenging match before competing as a wild card in singles at Wimbledon thanks to the victory. The All England Club's main-draw matches begin on Monday.
Williams' final competitive appearance occurred in 2021 at the grass-court Slam. Williams had just started the opening round when she lost her balance and her right leg buckled, forcing her to leave the game. She is rated No. 1,204 in singles and hasn't played in any matches since. Wimbledon did not include her among the seeded participants on Tuesday.