Serena Williams lost to Venus in 3rd match of comeback, but don’t count her out

Serena Williams’ first competitive singles appearance in more than a year came to an end Monday evening. In their 29th career meeting, she lost to her sister, Venus Williams, in the third round at Indian Wells. Venus, who historically hasn’t been able to consistently beat her younger sister, was in better physical condition in this matchup and advanced with the 6-3, 6-4 win.

Venus was in control of the match, despite some unforced errors and several double faults, throughout. In the second set, she got out to a 5-2 lead and was serving for the win. Serena fought back and scored a break to extend the match. Serena then held to force Venus, now with eight double faults, to serve for the match.

Serena threatened a break, but Venus managed to hold on for the win.

Serena was playing in just her third singles match since being away from competitive singles tennis for over a year. She was the 2017 Australian Open champion, beating Venus in the final while eight weeks pregnant. She’s since had her child and life-threatening medical issues related to the pregnancy.

In her first match back, Serena beat Zarina Diyas, the 53rd-ranked player in the world. She’d normally get a bye in tournaments like this one, but is unranked due to her time away. She beat Diyas in straight sets. In her second match, she took down the 29th-seeded Kiki Bertens in straight sets, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Serena looked good in both matches before facing Venus, picking up speed after the first set, finding her timing and power. She was then slated to take on Venus.

“Obviously, I wish it was anybody else in the draw, literally anybody,” Serena said prior to the match.

Even with her run at Indian Wells coming to a relatively quick end, Serena showed flashes of the power and speed that made her the best in the world. She looked like Serena most of the time. Not all of the time, but most of the time.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion hit with power; and she got better as her first two matches progressed. When she made a mistake, she usually came back with a vengeance. Next, it’s all about getting her lateral movement back up to speed. She came up short on some shots that she would have made in her prime.

But the takeaway is simple: Serena looked good enough to convince most that she will, eventually, return to championship-winning form. I don’t know how long Serena (and Venus, for that matter) has left at the top, but I wouldn’t bet against her getting back on track.