INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — After 404 days, a new baby and a wedding, Serena Williams returned to tour-level singles play on Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open.
It was not without its struggles (or its unforced errors), but Williams took care of the essentials: defeating Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-3, in Williams’s much-anticipated return to the WTA Tour.
“I’m a little rusty, but it doesn’t matter,” Williams, 36, said to the crowd in the main stadium at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “I’m just out here on this journey and, you know, doing the best I can.