I love tennis and I love playing, but I also love what I do off the court: Serena Williams

To the delight of tennis fans around the world, Serena Williams returned to the court on Tuesday after a year-long layoff. She is competing in the doubles category at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne alongside World No. 3 Ons Jabeur.

Williams played her first competitive match after a gap of 357 days. Her last match came at the 2021 Wimbledon where she injured her leg during a first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and was forced to retire mid-match.

Last week, the 40-year-old surprised everyone when she announced her wildcard entry into the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships and the Rothesay International.

In their opening match in Eastbourne, Williams and Jabeur rallied from a set down to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova 2-6, 6-3, 13-11. After the match, the American legend showed her excitement on returning to action with her new doubles partner.

“It was so fun to play with Ons. It was great. We had a lot of fun and our opponents played amazing. We were happy to stay in there. I was talking with Ons in the first set and I said, 'we're not playing bad, they really played really good in that set'. But obviously, winning and getting more balls and playing a little bit more made us feel a lot better and it definitely felt reassuring," Williams said.

When the seven-time Wimbledon champion was asked about her future and whether she would return to the tour next year, Williams said she didn't have an answer at the time.

"I don't know, I can't answer that. I love tennis and I love playing, or else I wouldn't be out here, right? But I also love what I do off the court, what I've built with Serena Ventures, it's interesting. So, it's a lot," Williams added.

Rothesay International: Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur to face Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching in quarterfinals

Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur during their first match.

Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur have reached the quarterfinals and will take on the unseeded duo of Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching next, who defeated Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka in their first match.

Williams was seen with three strips of tape on her face during the match but she chose not to comment on it.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner was also asked if she ever doubted she could pick up a racquet once again after her injury last year. Williams nodded but stated that she always stayed semi-fit and was ready to return.

"Absolutely, for sure, I would be dishonest if I said it wasn't. But now my body feels great. I did a lot of non-training in the beginning, obviously. After I couldn't play New York, I just went cold turkey of not working out and it felt good. But I always try to stay semi-fit because you never know when you're going to enter Wimbledon," said Williams.