Wimbledon 2018: Serena Williams makes winning return to SW19 with gutsy win over Arantxa Rus

The seven-time champion did not play at the Championships last year as she was pregnant with her daughter

It is four years since Serena Williams lost a match at Wimbledon and the 36-year-old American took her winning streak at the All England Club to 15 matches with her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Arantxa Rus here on the opening day.

Williams’ last defeat on these courts was to Alize Cornet in the third round in 2014. She won the title in 2015 and 2016 but was absent last year because of her pregnancy. Her daughter, Olympia, was born in September and she began her comeback in March.

Rus had won only two matches in her four previous appearances here, but Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’ coach, described the world No 105 as a tricky opponent. However, it was the conditions as much as the 27-year-old Dutchwoman that Williams struggled to master.

Williams often had to hurry her shots and was sometimes caught off balance, but the 36-year-old American kept commendably focused on her task.

Rus dug herself out of trouble when she served at 4-5 and 0-30 in the opening set, but Williams piled on the pressure two games later. Rus netted a forehand after a 24-shot rally to go 15-40 down, saved the first set point with a service winner but hit a forehand long on the second.

At 1-1 in the second set Williams was the victim of a bad line call when she hit a smash which should have won the game. Rus went on to break serve and then held for 3-1. When Williams served at 0-30 in the following game it seemed that the momentum might have shifted, but the seven-times champion dug deep and promptly won five games in a row to secure her victory.

Williams said it felt good to be back playing on grass again after missing last year’s tournament but insisted: “I’m just taking it one match at a time. I don't think I was at my best today, but I'm practising much better. I feel as long as I keep going, hopefully I'll be able to get there.”

The American said she had worked hard on keeping calm, despite the high expectations she had of herself. “Not only do I expect to win, but I also expect to win emphatically,” she said. “Sometimes I put too much pressure on myself, I'm over-anxious. It's really just about learning that balance.”

Asked about the challenge of combining tennis with motherhood, Williams said that playing doubles and singles at the French Open had made it hard to find time to be with her daughter. However, she is not playing doubles here.

“I'm adjusting well,” she said. “I spend so much time with her every single day. We literally do everything. I really don’t like being away from her. I also think it’s healthy in a way for me to do what I need to do, be that working mum, then go back home and be the mum.

Serena Williams celebrates her win against Arantxa Rus on the first day of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships (AFP/Getty ) (AFP/Getty)

“I wake up early to spend time with her. It’s nice here because I had a later match today. I spent all morning with her. Then she had her nap. Then I spent the rest of the time with her when she woke up.”

Victoria Azarenka, another former world No 1, is also juggling with motherhood and tennis following the birth of her son, Leo, in December 2016. Unlike Williams, the Belarusian was not seeded when she returned to Wimbledon last summer. “It’s simple,” she said. “I didn’t get it last year. She got it this year.”

Azarenka, who beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6, 6-3 in her opening match, said it was important that there were now discussions about how to treat returning mothers.

“This conversation has led to numerous meetings, numerous occasions where we are discussing the rules and how can we be a leader in sports to have the best maternity policy,” she said “A couple of days ago we had a big meeting, and I feel like we are moving in a really good direction. I feel that our voices, as a player council, are heard.”