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LONDON – Not many people reach half the level of success that Serena Williams has, but one of the greatest athletes in the world is riding a tough wave right now. In sport, it is common knowledge that bouncing back to previous form after a long layoff is hard.

Williams won last year’s Australian Open tennis title while she was eight weeks pregnant with baby Alexis Olympia Ohanian. This was amazing by any standards, but it begs the question of whether she will return to her previous standard of play.
Last Sunday, the seven-time Wimbledon champion played her first competitive match since giving birth. She played alongside her sister Venus and the pair lost 6-2, 6-3 to Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in the Fed Cup doubles competition. Although the US team progressed to the next stage of the competition, Serena said she would have loved to earn that important first victory.

In December, three months after giving birth, the 36-year-old lost to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition match in the United Arab Emirates. -AFP.