Mellow Serena Williams impresses on return at French Open to set up second round meeting with Ashleigh Barty
Serena Williams made a spectacular return to Grand Slam competition here at the French Open on Tuesday when she beat the world No 70, Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6, 6-4
As posters all over this part of Paris have been telling us, the queen is back. Serena Williams, resplendent in a shiny one-piece black catsuit with a bright pink sash around her waist, made a spectacular return to Grand Slam competition here at the French Open on Tuesday when she beat the world No 70, Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6, 6-4.
Williams had last played in a Grand Slam tournament 17 months ago, when she won the Australian Open when eight weeks’ pregnant. The 36-year-old American arrived here having played only four matches – none of them on clay – since starting her return to competition in March following the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia in September.
On this evidence the world No 451 still has work to do on her movement – hardly a surprise given her circumstances – but she served well and hit her ground strokes with her customary power. As a first competitive match for more than two months and a first match on clay for nearly two years, it was hugely impressive.
Williams gave an equally measured performance in her post-match press conference. There have been of times in the past when the 23-times Grand Slam singles champion has been evasive and uncommunicative when talking to the media, but this was an encounter with a more mellow Serena.
The former world No 1 said the biggest difference about being a mother at a tournament was her improved time-keeping. “I'm semi on time today [for this press conference], just two minutes late, because I want to get home and see Olympia, because I have been here all day,” she said. “Usually we hang out all the time. If I’m not practising, we’re hanging out.
“I'm concerned how that’s going to work out for me, because normally in Grand Slams I do spend a lot of time at the site. She’s so young, I don't really bring her.”
Asked about the difficulties of returning to tennis as a mother, Williams said: “First and foremost, you have to get your core back, which is hard, because it literally spreads when you have a baby. That’s difficult. And just coming back physically from having a baby, at my age, is never, I think, really easy.
“Emotionally I think it’s different, because I’m so emotionally attached to my daughter. Dads are too, but I actually breastfed for a really, really, really long time, so I just had this real connection with my daughter.”
Williams said she felt fortunate to be in a position where she can plan her days around her work and her daughter. “I feel like most mums don’t have the opportunity that I do. In the beginning it was difficult to learn her nap schedules. She’s never actually on schedule, but at least I know that for certain parts of the day I’m spending all that time with her, because I don’t want her to ever feel like I’m not around. I’m a super hands-on mom, maybe too much so.”
She added: “My priority is Olympia. No matter what, that’s my priority. I have given tennis so much, and tennis has actually given me a lot, and I couldn’t be more grateful. She’s my priority, and I work everything around her.
“I want her to know that I really try to put her first in my life, along with God and my family. I really try to put that first in my life.I feel like everything else will fall into place - and it has. I feel like it’s all going to work out.”
Williams’ catsuit inevitably drew comparisons with the white one-piece outfit Anne White wore at Wimbledon in 1985. However, you cannot imagine the referee here following the example of his counterpart at the All England Club, who advised White 33 years ago to wear “something more appropriate” the next day.
Williams said her outfit had been inspired by the recent Marvel movie, “Black Panther”, set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda.
“It's really fun,” she said. “I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior princess, a kind of queen from Wakanda maybe. I'm always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a super-hero, and it's kind of my way of being a super-hero. I feel like a super-hero when I wear it.”
She said there had also been a medical reason for wearing the catsuit. She suffers from blood clots and said the outfit helped with her blood circulation.
“It feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves,” she said. “I definitely feel like it is an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids.”
Williams was asked about the response to her frank comments about the health issues she had dealt with after the birth, which was by an emergency caesarean section. She was confined to bed for six weeks and againhad problems with blood clots.
“I was literally not sure if I was going to make it or not at several different times,” Williams said. “A lot of people have really reached out, because they have so many similar stories, too.
“I feel like a lot of people don’t talk about it. They talk about the baby and how happy they are. But it’s a lot that goes into it with the pregnancy and with giving birth. It’s called a miracle for a reason. It’s very difficult sometimes to make it through. I really appreciate that a lot more now.
“So many women can relate. And now they feel they can speak out about it. And then we can open up the community and talk about it more and help each other out, because it’s something that we should talk about.”
As for her tennis, Williams said she was pleased with her serve, even though she felt there was room for improvement, especially in terms of speed. “I really feel like I can improve on literally everything,” she added.
“I feel like I’m on the right track. I have been putting in a lot of work on the court, off the court, on the court, off the court. That’s kind of been my life. I’ve been really enjoying it.”
Williams can expect a harder match in the next round when she takes on the world No 17, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-3, 6-1.
Maria Sharapova, making her first appearance here since 2015, had a customary mid-match wobble before beating Richel Hogenkamp 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Garbine Muguruza came out on top in the meeting of two former title holders as the 2016 winner beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, 7-6, 6-2. Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-7, 7-6, 6-0 to earn a second-round meeting with Britain’s Heather Watson.
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