The tennis champion has officially made her return to the sport at this year's Wimbledon.
Serena Williams is back on the court! The tennis champion has officially returned to the game since she pulled out of 2021's Wimbledon after injuring her right leg during her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
On Tuesday, the 40-year-old earned a win alongside Ons Jabeur in the Eastbourne International doubles tournament. The duo defeated Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo and Czech player Marie Bouzková in three sets.
After the match, Williams told the BBC she had feared for her career while recovering from the 2021 injury.
The mother of one admitted that she had experienced doubts about whether she would be able to return during the past year, saying, "I would be dishonest if I said it wasn't. But now my body feels great."
Williams went on to say she enjoyed playing with Jabeur as she prepares for the All England Club, where she's won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles. According to the BBC, the champion received a wildcard entry to the Wimbledon singles tournament.
"Our opponents played amazing and we were happy to stay in there. It's doubles, I'm only playing half of the court, but I've been doing a lot of training and so it definitely feels good. You know what, I'm literally taking it one day at a time," she added. "I really took my time with my hamstring injury, so I'm just not making a ton of decisions after this."
The four-time Olympic gold medalist subtly announced her return to Wimbledon on her Instagram last week with a photo of her sneaker-clad feet. "SW and SW19. It's a date. 2022 See you there. Let’s Go #renasarmy," Willams captioned the post.
"SW" refers to the tennis pro's initials while "SW19" indicates the postcode of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is where Wimbledon is played. The tennis tournament's qualifying matches started on Monday in London; the first round of the gentlemen and ladies' singles tournament begins on June 27.
The post was met with encouragement from friends and fans, and Williams' biggest fan -- her husband, Alexis Ohanian. The internet entrepreneur commented on the post with several clapping hands emojis and wrote, "LFG!"
Williams' draw in Wimbledon's singles tournament has yet to be announced.
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