The 38-year-old, who revealed that she almost died while giving birth threw her head back with relief when she beat fellow American, Jessica Pegula at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Oh, it feels good!” Williams said after the match. “It’s been a long time. I think you could see the relief on my face.
“It’s pretty satisfying just to get a win in the final. That was really important for me, and I just want to build on it. It’s just a step towards the next goal.”
Even though the 23-time Grand Slam winner said she almost died while giving birth, she returned to the sport six months later.
Since then, she has had ups and downs during her matches, reaching the finals of four Grand Slams and losing at all of them, the most recent being her 2019 US Open loss to Bianca Andreescu.
She has announced that she will donate her $43,000 win to the Australian bushfire efforts. She will also auction a dress from each of her matches with the money also going to the cause.
She will now prepare for the Australian Open which begins on 20 January, and which she has won seven times.
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