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Serena Williams
Photo: GLYN KIRK / AFP
Top star Serena Williams has returned to the tennis tour with a win after a forced break of 357 days.
On Tuesday evening, the 40-year-old American won her opening match in doubles alongside Tunisian Ons Jabeur against Marie Bouzkova from the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo from Spain at the WTA grass tournament in Eastbourne, England, and is thus in the quarter-finals.
Then the duo meets Shuko Aoyama from Japan and Hao-Ching Chan from Taiwan.
After 1:34 hours, the 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams and Jabeur prevailed 2: 6, 6: 3 and finally in the champions tiebreak with 13:11.
Williams, in a brightly colored long-sleeved outfit, was highly motivated and very emotional about the matter.
With a wild card for a comeback at Wimbledon
Williams will compete at Wimbledon next week via wildcard.
There she had played her last match for almost a year on July 29, 2021 in her first round task against Aljaksandra Sasnowitsch (Belarus).
It had been more than two years since her last doubles match on the tour - it was the lost final in Auckland in January 2020.
A tear in the hamstrings had forced Williams into a month-long hiatus.
In April, she hinted at her comeback at Wimbledon in exchange with football star Aaron Rodgers.
She has won the tournament in south-west London seven times, most recently in 2016.
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