Serena Williams will come back to the tennis court in an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi next week, after almost a year-long maternity break.
On Dec. 30, the 36-year-old grand slam player will be up against world number Jelena Ostapenko for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship (MWTC).
The game will be the first for Williams after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia in September. Her last game was back in January, when she won her record 23<sup>rd Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open.
Already carrying for eight weeks at that time, she was the first tennis player to win a Grand Slam title while pregnant.
Back in April, a representative for Williams announced that the former world number one will take a maternity leave after giving birth to her child until 2018.
In November, Williams was married to the father of her daughter, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Reports say he also took a parental leave to be close to their newborn child.
The exhibition game will be one of many firsts. It will be the first time the 20-year-old French Open winner and Williams will meet on the singles court. For the MWTC, which is on its 10<sup>th edition, it will be the first time for women to compete in the event.
"The Mubadala World Tennis Championship has long marked the beginning of the men's global tennis season and I am excited and honored to be making my comeback as part of the first women to participate in the event," Williams said in an official statement.
With a return to court earlier than previously announced, many are curious whether Williams is ready to resume her career by joining the 2018 Australian Open in January.
While her coach Patrick Mouratoglou says nothing has been decided yet, Australian Open director Craig Tilley claims it is "very likely" for Williams to defend her title next month.
"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practicing and she's probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage," he told the Herald Sun.
