The long wait is seemingly over. Serena Williams on Tuesday is set to take part in her first Grand Slam event since the 2017 Australian Open and renew her quest for yet another singles title. The Three-time champion returns with a French Open first-round match against Kristyna Pliskova on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 36-year-old last played a major tournament in a victorious 2017 Australian Open campaign while two months pregnant, before taking time out of the game to give birth to her daughter.
Serena has since gone down to 453 in the world as a result, although she was able to use her protected ranking to enter the French Open.
The former world number one briefly returned for the American hard-court season, but suffered early losses to sister Venus and Naomi Osaka in Indian Wells and Miami respectively.
A run to the title at Roland Garros so soon into her comeback may be unlikely, but Serena can never be ruled out and victory would draw her level with Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Should she get through the first couple of rounds, Serena appears to have been handed a good draw, although may have a potential last-16 clash with Kristyna Pliskova’s sister and sixth seed Karolina, who reached the semi-finals last year.
