Serena Williams returns to the Grand Slam stage in Paris for the first time after her baby break. While she is fully absorbed in her new role as a mother off the court, there are big question marks behind her athletic performance.
Serena Williams made her last family trip to London before returning to the Grand Slam stage. Together with husband Alexis Ohanian and daughter Alexis Olympia, the 36-year-old was one of the distinguished guests at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The tennis queen from the USA obviously enjoyed the performance at the British Royals Festival. It almost seemed as if she felt more comfortable there than at last on the court.
Williams is determined to shine again at the French Open, which starts on Sunday. Although her first comeback attempt after the baby break at the beginning of the year had been rather suboptimal and she as unseeded number 453 of the world expects a tricky draw, she feels fit and ready. “Serena will play the French Open to win,” her coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently announced. However, it remains to be seen how seriously this declaration of war is to be taken.
Williams has not played a match since her first-round finish at the WTA tournament in Miami at the end of March. The complicated birth in September, including a few days in mortal danger, had obviously left its mark. She recently cancelled her participation in the events in Madrid and Rome because of a fever. “She came back too soon”, Mouratoglou also admitted in the meantime: “She wasn’t ready yet, but wanted to get a feeling for the competition.”
The urge to assert oneself, the unconditional desire to show the world again, is still driving Williams. She has already collected 23 Grand Slam titles in singles, 14 in doubles, 72 tour successes and four Olympic gold medals. Now it’s about proving that you can still play tennis successfully as a mother. “I am convinced that I have the strength to do everything,” she last told the New York Times: “I won’t come back to come back. I’m coming back to win.”
And this although Williams has long since pursued more than just sporting goals. Like so many of the great tennis stars, Serena has long been their own brand. A brand that wants to be strongly advertised. Even her daughter already has an official Instagram account at the age of eight months, Serena herself threw axes on Jimmy Fallon’s US TV show and produced the five-part documentary Being Serena with the US channel HBO.
With the help of astonishingly private insights right up to the bed in the delivery room, Williams sharpens her own profile as mother, player and private woman in personal union. A role in which she seems to enjoy herself noticeably. “I’m fine, I’m doing very well,” Serena said on Wednesday at a sponsors meeting in Paris: “I’m very excited, but also very happy.”