Inside Serena Williams' return to tennis - ESPN

BY THE TIME the clay-court season had started, almost everyone in tennis had heard the growing rumblings.

It had begun months earlier, but as the winter turned to spring and the tour made its way to Europe, the speculation gradually turned from a tantalizing-but-unlikely idea to what seemed like a foregone conclusion. On June 1, it became official.

Serena Williams — the 23-time major champion and arguably the greatest woman to ever play the sport — was coming back.

Now, after playing doubles matches at the HSBC Championships and Berlin Open, Williams will compete in her first singles match in nearly four years Tuesday at Wimbledon, taking on No. 53-ranked Maya Joint. Williams, who will also play doubles alongside her sister Venus, has indicated she will be playing competitively throughout the summer.

Though Williams, now a mother of two, returned to the court just over a week after making her announcement and is competing at a major just weeks later, her comeback is anything but rushed. Behind the scenes, Williams and her team have been working tirelessly for months to prepare for this moment.

Her dominant serve and powerful hitting remain, as does her unparalleled aura, but things are different this time around. Though she already has one of the most accomplished résumés in tennis history, her team, which includes coaches Jarmere Jenkins and Rennae Stubbs, has shifted its priorities to adapt to the latest iteration of Serena Williams.

«She loves this sport, loves to compete and as long as she is happy doing this — and she is — her team will be here with her and for her,» Stubbs told ESPN. «The most important thing I and any of her team have said is, 'As long as she is enjoying it, that's all we care about.' That is the