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WIMBLEDON, England – After pushing back a fierce opponent in the right round, Serena Williams posed new questions about her competitive return to Wimbledon following the birth of her first child.
How was it to play her first match at Wimbledon as a mother?
"It was really good."
Did the tights she wore on Monday under her tennis dress have a medical purpose?
Yes, says Williams, explaining that she needed to keep a compression on her legs as a precaution, alluding to potentially life-threatening blood clots that she developed after giving birth on September 1st.
Had she noticed the referee? to her as "Mrs. Williams" in her first match of Wimbledon as a married woman?
Not really, she said with a slight laugh, confessing that she still had not registered that she was married, considering everything that had happened during last 12 months.
And back to the subject of motherhood: ] Did her 10-month-old daughter, Olympia, notice that her mother was too busy this week?
"She clearly notices when I'm away," said Williams. "I miss you."
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Williams, 32, is one of six mothers among 128 Wimbledon players this year. And given her profile as a Grand Slam champion 23 times, she gives a new meaning to the multitasking mother since her return to the sport – aided by, she quickly recognized Monday, a formidable support system that includes her mother . Grandma travels a lot now, "she said.
On the domestic and professional fronts, Williams is not ready to compromise. But she finds that success at this stage of life lies in the search for a proper balance.
For a champion accustomed to winning, finding and settling on a field of understanding has not been easy.
The first major challenge was to decide when to stop badfeeding. She described it as a heartbreaking step that she delayed for months but ended up, at the request of her coach, allowing her body to recover completely before returning to the pro lap.
"I literally sat Olympia in my arms," Williams told reporters on the eve of Wimbledon. "I talked to him, we prayed about it, and I said," Listen, I'm going to stop. Mom must do that. I cried a little – not as much as I thought. She was fine. "
On her social media platforms and in recent months' interviews, Williams spoke frankly about the medical complications she experienced during childbirth and subsequent changes in her body." she learned, through the process, that each woman's body responds differently.
"I think it's important for us to share this message," she said.
Now that # She is back for the Grand Slam titles, Williams is struggling with the balance that defines motherhood in so many ways, and in her case, during the tournament, it meant getting up early to spend the most time. possible time with Olympia and know when to retire and head for the tennis court.
She cheated at Roland Garros last month recognized, trying to play both singles and doubles. She does not make the same mistake here at Wimbledon, jumping in doubles at the Following his eighth championship singles and 24th overall.
In the field, Williams is also looking for balance. , 6-3 win over Aranxta Rus, while Williams struggled to attack and when to show patience, especially in the midst of an evil wind that she had almost forgotten to handle during her 13-month absence at tennis.
Tension was at the heart of what turned out to be the last game of the game. Serving at 5-3, Williams needed six match points to win, alternating too much and missing his first serve, only to be timed by the return of Rus' winners over the second conservative service. I was just trying to be calmer, "Williams explained afterwards. "I wanted to do it so well, sometimes it works against you … I feel like I'm maybe too anxious and too much …"
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While Williams goes from the front In the tournament, she will have to understand how aggressive she can be with a service that is not yet the weapon that was spraying when she won. "Seventh Wimbledon title in 2016. She's trying to Also regaining all his strength a few weeks after an injured pectoral muscle forced him to withdraw from the French Open last month before his fourth round match.
Against Rus, Williams l '. has kept it at 115 mph or less, with her 120-mph jumps and 128-mph personal record.
Nonetheless, three-time Wimbledon champion Chris Evert gives Williams chances that any woman in a free field.On earlier Monday she lost her fourth seed, Amé. Rican Sloane Stephens, at a shocking outing of the first round.
Stephens was among the four women who shared the Grand Slam titles during Williams' maternity leave. The Spanish Garbine Muguruza won Wimbledon in 2017. Stephens won the US Open 2017. The Danish Caroline Wozniacki won the Australian Open 2018, and the Romanian Simona Halep won the recent French Open. Wimbledon ranked them according to their current rankings: No. 1 Halep, No. 2 Wozniacki, No. 3 Muguruza and Stephens
Less than three hours after the start of Wimbledon, Donna Vekic of Croatia overthrew Stephens, 6- 1, 6-3
Stephens, who nearly won his second major last month, leading Halep by a set and a break from duty in Paris before weakening, had to do well at Wimbledon. But Vekic played the aggressor, a wise tactic on the grbad, and Stephens never responded in kind.
"My feet were a bit slow," concedes Stephens. "Sometimes it happens." Williams, cracked as the 25th seed in the tournament, moves on.
Evert, now an ESPN badyst, said last week that she was hit by the sincere way in which Williams kissed "I know that when I had my first child, I did not want to do anything else in life," said Evert, who postponed her maternity until she was pregnant. "At his retirement." It's Serena, and she's doing unimaginable, unpredictable. You can never count it. "
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