Los Angeles: American tennis great Serena Williams dropped a large hint Monday that she could soon be back on court competing when she posted an Instagram photo of a pair of dazzling gold and white tennis shoes.
Serena, who won her 23rd Grand Slam singles title at last year’s Australian Open before taking time out to have her first child, has entered next month’s tournament in Melbourne.
“Be excited. Be very excited…” the 36-year-old said in the post which attracted 1,35,000 likes in the space of an hour.
Serna gave birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian (Jr) in September and was married to Alexis Ohanian last month.
Few female players have won Grand Slams after taking a break to start a family, although Kim Clijsters won the 2009 US Open title in her third tournament back after having a daughter.
Australians Evonne Goolagong and Margaret Court also managed the same feat. Court’s 24 Grand Slam singles titles remains a record although only 11 of them were in the professional era.
Serena in the past has stated that breaking Court’s record is one of her main goals. However, since the birth of her daughter, she has said that she wants to return to competitive tennis simply to enjoy the game. “There are more important things than just titles,” she had stated recently in obvious reference to her new-born daughter. “If titles happen on the way, so be it. But more than anything, I just want to return to the circuit to compete again.”
Reuters
