SERENA READY FOR LONG-AWAITED RETURN AT INDIAN WELLS
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| Serena Williams |
Serena Williams believes now
is the "perfect time" to return to the WTA Tour in order to gauge her
progress ahead of the year's remaining grand slam tournaments.
Williams, who
claimed a 23rd grand slam title at last year's Australian Open before hanging
up her racket for the season upon discovering she was pregnant with her first
child, also skipped this year's tournament in Melbourne.
After using the time
to work on her fitness, Williams featured in a Fed Cup doubles match for the
United States last month and is scheduled to play at the BNP Paribas Open in
Indian Wells which starts this week.
"My
expectations, I don't know what they are," the 36-year-old American told
the BBC.
"I can't go and
say I expect to lose because that is something I will never say. It's just a
little different. I'm just expecting to see where I am more than anything.
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| Serena Williams to make first WTA Tour appearance since the birth of her daughter Olympia |
"This is a good
time to start for the summer. If I want to play in those grand slams (the
French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) and play well, I think now is the
perfect time to start."
Williams remains
motivated to chase down Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 grand slam
singles titles but is also hoping to give her now six-month-old daughter a
chance to have some memories of watching her mother in action.
"I've always
been an extremely motivated person, but my main thing is that I would love for
my daughter to be around with me doing great, and playing amazing, so that
definitely gives me some motivation," she added.
"I would have
thought I would have retired six years ago, but I'm still here and I'm playing
great, and I think I'll still be playing good."
Unseeded Williams is
scheduled to open her Indian Wells campaign with a first round tie against
Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan on Thursday.
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