Serena Williams will officially return to tennis not in a Grand Slam, but by playing for the United States in the Fed Cup next month. The USTA announced on Tuesday that Serena, as well as her sister Venus and fellow U.S. tennis standout CoCo Vandeweghe, would be playing in the team’s tie against the Netherlands in North Carolina.
Serena Williams will officially return to competitive tennis in the Fed Cup next month
She’s been named to the U.S. Fed Cup team along with her sister, Venus.
Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images
Many hoped Serena would return to tennis for the Australian Open, happening now, but she didn’t feel completely back to where she needed to be to compete properly and declined to play in Melbourne. She experienced some health complications after giving birth that appear to have made her road back more difficult than it was already shaping up to be.
(Which might have been a blessing in disguise, as the women’s draw has been wide open with major upsets and favorites pulling out close matches alike. Maybe this year’s Australian Open just wasn’t meant to have Serena in it.)
In any case, she’ll take the courts in Asheville, N.C. alongside her sister and Vandeweghe as they face off against the Netherlands. The United States has never lost when both Venus and Serena are on the Fed Cup team, which last happened in 2015, and with the team defending its 2017 title, that’s great news. They’ve been on the same team a total of eight times.
A fourth member of the squad will be named next week as they prepare to face the Netherlands. The Fed Cup is an annual international women’s tennis competition, which was won by the U.S. last year.
While the focus will be on Serena’s return, the competition and the team is about more than just Serena. So in an ideal world, her involvement being so high profile this go-around will bring further coverage and interest to the event.
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