Serena loses in exhibition comeback
Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku is carried off on a stretcher after suffering a head injury during the English Premier League match against Southampton at Old Trafford yesterday. The game ended 0-0.
POINTS STANDING
United took a while to regroup after losing Lukaku and struggled to open up a visiting defence that produced an embarrassing display in conceding five goals against Tottenham four days earlier.
Lukaku fell to the ground when Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt’s head went into the back of the striker’s head in an aerial challenge. After a break of at least five minutes, Lukaku was carried off to applause from both sets of fans.
“When you see a player leave the pitch like he did, it is usually two games at least,” Mourinho said.
Other results: Bournemouth 2 Everton 1; Chelsea 5 Stoke 0; Huddersfield 0 Burnley 0; Liverpool 2 Leicester 1; Newcastle 0 Brighton 0; Watford 1 Swansea 2. ABU DHABI, UAE (AP): SERENA WILLIAMS lost in her return to tennis after giving birth in September, beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition yesterday and still unsure if she will defend her Australian Open title.
Williams called it a “wonderful” match despite the defeat — she took the second set in a score of 6-2, 3-6 and 10-5 in a super tiebreaker.
The Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, begins on January 15.
“I don’t know if I am totally ready to come back on the tour yet. I know that when I come back I definitely want to be competing for championships. I am definitely looking forward to getting back out there,” Williams said.
“I am taking it one day at a time. I am going to assess everything with my team before deciding.”
The 36-year-old Williams took time off after winning the Australian Open last January while pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, on September 1. She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November.
Williams struggled with her serve in the 67-minute match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. But, after nearly a year away from the game, she did win a set against the world’s No. 7 player
WONDERFUL MATCH
“I don’t think I am going to rate my performance,” Williams said. “I have plenty of comebacks, from injuries, from surgeries, but I’ve never had a comeback after actually giving birth to a human being. So, in my eyes, I feel it was a wonderful, wonderful match for me.”
Williams insisted that she has a lot more tennis to play.
“Knowing that I have won 23 Grand Slam titles and several other titles, I don’t think I have anything more left to prove,” she said. “But I am not done yet.”
Williams won her opening game, breaking Ostapenko, but she was nowhere near her best in the first set before fighting back and winning the second.