Serena loses in comeback exhibition

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Serena Williams lost in her return to tennis after giving birth in September, beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition Saturday 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 Jan. 15.

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 Sept. 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

“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.”

DJOKOVIC: In Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Novak Djokovic withdrew from another tournament on Saturday, this time his final warm-up event for the Australian Open, saying he still has pain in his right elbow and isn’t sure when he will return to action.

The elbow problem forced Djokovic to withdraw from an exhibition tournament in United Arab Emirates on Friday. The 30-year-old Serb said Saturday his elbow had not improved and he was going to miss next week’s Qatar Open.