Serena Williams was pleased to get back on court despite losing what was her first match in almost a year, against Jelena Ostapenko, at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. It was Williams' first outing since winning her 23rd grand slam singles title at the Australian Open in January, while pregnant, before taking time out to have the baby. But she failed to fully rediscover her rhythm and quickly dropped the first set 6-2 to the Latvian Ostapenko, the French Open champion. The 36-year-old American roared back to win the second set 6-3 before losing the decisive tiebreak 10-5 in the exhibition match. Williams has registered for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 15 at Melbourne Park.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 30, 2017 15:22 UTC