Serena earns 1st win since June ’21

Serena Williams hadn’t won in so long, she said she couldn’t even remember the feeling. She picked up her first victory since the 2021 French Open on Monday, beating Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4 at the women’s National Bank Open in Toronto. “I’m just happy to get a win. It’s been a very long time, I forgot what that felt like,” Williams said. It’s just the second tournament of the season for the 40-year-old Williams, who returned to competition at Wimbledon just over a month ago. The 23-time Grand Slam champion fell in the first round to Harmony Tan in three sets at the All England Club. Before then, she last competed at the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, where she retired in the middle of her first match due to a torn hamstring suffered after slipping on the grass surface. Williams, who will turn 41 at the end of September, has won this tournament three times in her storied career and reached the final in her last appearance at the hardcourt event in 2019, losing to Bianca Andreescu when she was forced to stop because of injury.