Williams grateful to be back

Serena Williams is not making any promises as she returns to tennis following a year away due to injury and a serious health problem, with the former no. 1 saying yesterday she is just glad to be back in the mix.

“I’m not preparing for today or for Wimbledon, I’m preparing for the rest of my career,’ said Williams, entered on a wild card into the Wimbledon grass-court tune-up at Eastbourne on the English south coast.

“I’m just here to do the best I can and I’m here not to lose.

“I’m just taking everything one day at a time, and I’m not putting too much expectation on myself or on my game. Most of all I’m just happy to be in competition.”

Williams now stands 25th in the world after lasting playing a match as she won Wimbledon last July.

A cut on her foot suffered while exiting a German restaurant just days later ended up requiring two surgeries, with Williams blaming 20 weeks in a walking cast for this year’s blood clot problem in her lung which nearly ended her career.

“(Doctors) said I had clots in both lungs, people die from that because you don’t recognise it,” she said.

“I couldn’t breathe, I just thought I was out of shape. So I thought I needed to get on the treadmill.

“It could have possibly been career-ending, but for the grace of God I got there in time and I was able to recover from it.”