Serena Williams reaches Wimbledon final months after returning from maternity leave
US tennis star Serena Williams has outplayed Julia Görges of Germany 6-2 6-4 to propel herself into the Wimbledon final just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter.
The 36-year year old triumphantly returned to the grass courts of Wimbledon to reach the tournament final since returning from the enforced layoff.
Last year, Williams took a break from competitive sport, announcing her pregnancy shortly after claiming her 23rd Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open.
In September 2017, she gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia, an experience which she later described as life-threatening and detailed complications she faced from a pulmonary embolism and a host of surgeries to prevent blood clots spreading to her lungs.
Williams, who is chasing her 24th Grand Slam title, returned to tennis in March, but failed to achieve any considerable progress in her first tournaments and struggled to regain decent competitive shape.
Two months ago she withdrew from her French Open last 16 match against Russia’s Maria Sharapova due to health problems just hours before the encounter was planned to start.
Williams is set to face another German player in the final, 11th-seed Angelique Kerber, who also booked a spot in the decisive match beating Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3 in her respective semifinal.
“I didn’t expect to play this well so quickly into my comeback,” Williams said after the match. “It’s not inevitable for me to be playing like this. I had multiple surgeries and nearly didn’t make it when I gave birth. I’m enjoying every moment.”
