Serena Williams is set to appear on court for the first time since giving birth after confirming she will play at the Mubadala exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, next Saturday.
The 23-grand slam winner has not played in tournaments since winning the Australian Open 11 months ago — a feat even more remarkable given she was already two months pregnant at the time.
336 days was the time Serena Williams was away from action. During this period, she skipped three Grand Slams and saw Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko win French Open and fellow American Sloane Stephens win the US Open – both with their maiden major titles. In the middle, Garbine Muguruza picked up her second Grand Slam title. Amid this, the women’s tour saw the World No 1 title change hands numerous times to finally rest in Simona Halep’s hands at the end of the season. For Serena, it was only the second instance where she had sat out three consecutive Grand Slams (previous being missing 2010-11 from US Open to French Open as she suffered from hematoma and a pulmonary embolism.
