Serena Williams made a winning return to professional competition on Tuesday, teaming up with rising star Victoria Mboko for a straight-sets doubles victory at the HSBC Championships in London.
While fans were excited to see the 23-time Grand Slam champion back in action, Williams joked that her daughters had other things on their minds.
Though Olympia and Adira were in the stands watching alongside their father, Alexis Ohanian, their attention wasn’t entirely on the tennis.
“Adira wanted to go to the toy store, and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” Williams said after the match.
The moment was especially amusing given that Williams has said her daughters were the inspiration behind her return.
“It’s really about my kids getting to see me play,” Williams said at a news conference ahead of the tournament. “Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. But it’s also having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that, one last time, is kind of cool and exciting.”
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Williams, who stepped away from full-time tennis competition in 2022, said she has nothing left to prove on the court. Instead, this latest chapter is about sharing a part of her legacy with her children.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion admitted she was not completely satisfied with her performance, giving herself a playful “C-minus” grade after the victory. Still, she appeared happy to be back competing.
“I got tired of sitting at home,” Williams joked. “My kids are out of school for the summer, so why not?”
As for whether fans could see her return to singles competition, Williams isn’t ruling anything out just yet.
“For singles, I can’t say yes, I can’t say no,” she said. “Right now, no. I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles. We’ll see if I get there.”
Williams is also scheduled to compete in next week’s Berlin Open, keeping the door open for what could be an exciting summer on the court.
