Even though I was suspicious that Serena Williams would pull out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship (MWTC) exhibition at the last moment, the American legend showed up in Abu Dhabi and officially resumed playing competitive tennis just four months after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia. The return was not victorious, though, as the new mom was defeated by the reigning Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Wearing the pink/white version of her new extravagant Nike shoes, the 36-year-old Williams was quickly trailing by a set, but then recovered to force the third-set super tiebreak, which she lost and Ostapenko celebrated a 6-2 3-6 10-5 triumph.