Serena Williams marked her return to the sport with a straight-sets win over Kazakhstan’s world No. 53 Zarina Diyas to reach the second round in Indian Wells on Thursday.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion posted a 7-5, 6-3 win in one hour and 33 minutes showing impressive form in her first WTA match since January 2017.
Her comeback coincided with International Women’s Day and Serena said it made the moment extra special.
“It was meant to be, I feel,” she said on court after her victory.
“Thank you guys for coming out, it was incredible. It’s been over a year, and a kid later. I get to go home to her now so I’m excited about that. But thanks for supporting me.”
Stepping on a court for her first competitive singles match in 404 days, Serena was met with roars from the near-sellout crowd.
Serena is the last American woman to win this tournament, back in 2001. She entered the match having never lost a set in either of her previous two matches against the 24-year-old Kazakh.
Making her sixth appearance at the tournament – boycotted Indian Wells from 2002 to 2014 – Serena is a two-time champion here in the California desert.
She is bidding to become the first woman to win Indian Wells three times.
Playing under a protected ranking of 22, Serena is unseeded at a tournament for the first time since Cincinnati in 2011.
It was a nervy start from Serena, who slammed back-to-back unforced errors on her first two points but showed immediate signs of her old self when she fired a brilliant return for 30-15.
A backhand return winner gave Serena her first break point of the match but she sent a backhand long to see it slip away and Diyas held for 1-0.
“Welcome home, Serena,” bellowed a supporter in response.
Diyas saved four break points, climbing back from 0-40 down to hold for 3-2.
The world No. 53 was putting pressure on the Serena serve, but the American stayed the course as she made it 4-4, giving out a scream of relief on game point.
“Come on Serena you can do it,” yelled a fan from the stands.
She certainly looked like she could as she broke for 6-5 to put herself in the position to serve for the opening set.
She aced to start the service game and sealed the set on her third opportunity.
The 36-year-old broke at love in game three of the second set to lead 2-1. But her advantage did not last as Diyas finally got her first break point of the match and converted for 2-all.
The next game was a tug of war but Serena eventually got the break on a Diyas double fault. Still the Kazakh pegged her back and they were on level terms again.
Serena screamed in frustration as the break-fest continued with the American inching ahead 4-3. It was the fifth consecutive game to go against serve.
The sequence of breaks finally ended as Serena held for 5-3 and she wrapped up the win minutes later.
