Serena stumbles in return to court

The first step in Serena Williams’ comeback underscored how far she has to go after spending over a year away from the game.

In Williams’ first competition since giving birth five months ago, she and sister Venus Williams lost 6-2, 6-3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in a Fed Cup doubles at Asheville, N.C.

“I honestly feel better than I thought I was going to feel,” she said.

The U.S. already had clinched a victory in the best-of-five event thanks to a pair of singles victories by Venus, so this doubles loss merely narrowed the final score to 3-1. The U.S. advanced to a World Group semifinal April 21-22 at France, which beat Belgium 3-2 over the weekend.

The clincher came Sunday when Venus Williams won the final five games in a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Richel Hogenkamp.

Elsewhere, the Czech Republic beat Switzerland 3-1 to advance to its 10th consecutive semifinals. It will travel to Germany, which made its first semifinals since 2015 by beating 2017 finalist Belarus 3-2 at Minsk.