Serena returns to action against Ostapenko
Serena Williams will make her return to court at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship against French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, organisers announced yesterday.
Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, has not played competitively since winning the Australian Open in January, taking time out from the sport to give birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia, in September.
The American former world No 1 is scheduled to defend her Melbourne title next month, but in an unprecedented move, she will be part of the first ever women’s match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. Williams’s match against Latvian world No 7 Ostapenko will take place at 5pm on December 30, the third and final day of the tournament.
“I am delighted to be returning to the court in Abu Dhabi for the first time since the birth of my daughter in September,” Williams said in a statement yesterday.
“The Mubadala World Tennis Championship has long marked the beginning of the men’s global tennis season and I am excited and honoured to be making my comeback as part of the first women to participate in the event.
“I look forward to seeing the fans in Abu Dhabi at the 10th Edition of the Championship very soon.”
Williams will face one of the breakout stars of women’s tennis in 2017. Ostapenko, 20, enjoyed a stunning rise last season, winning her first grand slam title at the French Open before ending the year ranked No 7. She also reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon where she lost to Williams’s sister Venus.
“I am thrilled to be playing in Abu Dhabi at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship,” Ostapenko said. “This will be the first time that women have taken part in the event and it is a huge honour to be part of that history after watching the tournament for many years.
“Last season was really incredible for me and I cannot wait to continue the start of my new season at such an amazing event.”
Entering its 10th edition, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship is a six-player invitational tournament that has been used as a tune-up event ahead of the new season for some of the best male players in the world.