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Shortly after Serena Williams kicked off her tennis comeback with an upset win in straight sets on June 9, she walked over and embraced her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their two daughters, 8-year-old Olympia and 2-year-old Adira.What did her daughters say after their mom, one of the greatest athletes ever, played her first professional match in 1,376 days?“Adira wanted to go to the toy store and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” Williams said.The moment offered a glimpse into how life has changed for Williams since the 23-time Grand Slam champion stepped away from tennis following the 2022 U.S. Open to focus on her family.When Williams decided to return four years later, partnering with Victoria Mboko as a doubles wild-card entry to the HSBC Championships in London, it was with flexible expectations and a new perspective inspired by her daughters."I'm putting no pressure on myself. I've had enough pressure," Williams said earlier this week before the tournament. "For me right now, it's really just about – it's so many elements. It’s really about my kids getting to see me play. Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young, but it's also still moments like that. An athlete is the best thing you can be and the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting."There were moments on the court in her return match where Williams looked like vintage Serena, delivering scorching serves and powerful backhands. But there were also indicators of how she has changed.'Don't be too hard on yourself!' Serena Williams gives self 'C-minus'Whereas Williams was renowned for her fiery competitiveness and occasional on-court outbursts, she remained calm and in high spirits during her comeback debut. She and Mboko exchanged smiles and laughter throughout the match, with Williams offering constant encouragement to her 19-year-old partner. Even when Williams made mistakes, she was able to shake it off in the moment and lock back in without letting frustration derail the match.In a match that lasted just more than 90 minutes, Williams and Mboko took down No. 3 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe, 7-6, 6-2.That’s not to say Williams was entirely pleased. Asked to assess her performance after the match, Williams self-deprecatingly replied, "I give myself a C-minus.""Don’t be too hard on yourself!" Mboko urged her, adding, "It's funny because there were moments in the match where we were kind of just like, 'Oh, this isn’t going great' or very self-critical. But I understand, it feels like it was far from her level a little bit, but I think it's great knowing that you have so much room for improvement and have the motivation to get better."Williams still played with her trademark aggression while patrolling the middle of the court. The 44-year-old demonstrated quick reflexes at the net and good anticipation on groundstrokes, including when she hit a ridiculous backhand winner on the run to earn a critical hold late in the first set.Williams and Mboko won 78% of their first serve points, with Williams firing off a pair of aces during the decisive game. On match point, she hit a 116-mph serve that Meluchar-Martinez got a racquet on but was unable to return.Mboko, who was recruited by Williams to play doubles last month, said she was grateful for the opportunity to play together."I don’t play that much doubles, but I think sharing the court I can learn a lot even though we’re still competing," Mboko said. "If anything, I just had so much fun today and I felt like we complemented each other on the court very well. I just really liked our attitude on court. We had the same mentality so that's what I always look for in a partner. I was just enjoying myself."Serena Williams 'nervous' before match, greeted with standing ovationGrass courts are historically a successful surface for Williams, who won seven singles titles and six doubles titles at Wimbledon. Prior to the return match, it had been three years, nine months and eight days since her last doubles win."I was nervous but I didn’t really think about it," Williams said. "I just thought about having fun, which I did today, and I just thought about – that's it. I got nervous right before the match, like maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go."Williams was greeted with a standing ovation when she walked out onto the court before the match and afterward left to more applause. The fanfare is likely to continue throughout the rest of her run at the HSBC Championships and at the Berlin Open later this month. Williams reiterated on June 9 that she hasn’t decided yet whether to compete at Wimbledon.Although her return at Queen’s Club might not have felt like an ordinary opening-round match for the spectators present, Williams said that for her, it’s just tennis."I think that’s the beauty of being an athlete and understanding the importance of honing in and concentrating," she said. "I feel like once you’ve been there and you understand that, it doesn't matter what’s going on in the outside world – as long as you know what you’re there for, then that really helps and makes a huge difference."
