Why Serena's Wimbledon comeback is nothing short of amazing
As if Serena Williams hasn't been impressive enough throughout her career.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion and perennial No. 1 female tennis player in the world has been doing the amazing since she graced the tour with her sister Venus in their cute matching beaded braids as pre-teens.
Serena has won Wimbledon and the Australian Open seven times each and the U.S. Open six times. She has a career winning percentage of nearly 86 percent with nearly 800 victories. Her longest run of consecutive weeks at the No. 1 ranking was 186 weeks, which tied the record set by the legendary Steffi Graf.
But perhaps all of that should pale into comparison to where Williams is now in her career and what she is managing to do at age 36.
And as a mom.
Williams is, in fact, a new mom, not even a year removed from giving birth to her daughter Olympia.
And now, 10 months later, Williams is getting set to play in today's Wimbledon final (8 a.m., ESPN with an encore at 2 p.m on ABC) against Angelique Kerber of Germany. It's a rematch of the 2016 Wimbledon final in which Williams won.
The thing is, Williams isn't just returning to professional tennis and another Wimbledon final after a pregnancy, she's returning after an extremely difficult birth and delivery.
Williams was struck with life-threatening pulmonary embolisms after her delivery of Olympia. She had multiple surgeries at the time and she remained on bed rest for several weeks.
"I almost didn't make it," Williams told ESPN. "There was a time I could barely walk to my mailbox. It's such a pleasure and a joy (to be back in the Wimbledon final) because less than a year ago, I was going through so much.
"It's been a crazy 10 months. I was still pregnant at this time last year. That's something I have to keep reminding myself. It's crazy. I literally didn't expect to do this well in my fourth tournament back."
Being the underdog has actually been freeing for Williams as she tries to find her way back to tip-top form.
"I don't have anything to lose," Williams said. "I can just play so free, and that's kind of what I'm doing. I'm taking everything as it is and just enjoying every moment."
More tennis:
Speaking of great tennis, a major tennis event is coming to Chicago later this month.
WTT, World TeamTennis, will stage WTT Chicago on July 27 at the XS Tennis Village at 5336 South State Street. The event is sponsored by Magellan Corporation and benefits XS Tennis and Education Foundation.
WTT is a mixed-gender professional team tennis league co-founded by Billie Jean King in the 1970s. The league consists of six teams from different U.S. cities and features many of the best men's and women's tennis players in the world competing each season for the league championship, the King Trophy.
The event in Chicago will feature two of WTT's most storied franchises in the six-time champion Washington Kastles and Billie Jean King's Philadelphia Freedoms, which features 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.
WTT returns to Chicago after a 31-year hiatus.
For more information on tickets, visit ticketmaster.com. General admission tickets for the event are $35 each and include free on-site parking.
The WTT Chicago website is: wtt.com/chicago.
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