In this March 5, 2018, file photo, Serena Williams returns to China's Zhang Shuai during the semi-final round of the Tie Break Tens tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.Kathy Willens/The Associated Press
Serena Williams’ coach says she will play the French Open beginning in two weeks.
The tournament will mark the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s first major since returning to the tour from maternity leave.
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou tells the WTA tour’s website, “Serena will play the French Open to win it.”
Williams returned to the tour briefly this year, after a 14-month absence to give birth to her daughter. But she withdrew from last week’s Madrid Open and this week’s Italian Open.
Mouratoglou says when Williams arrived to train with him in France late last month, “We realized that she was not ready yet. The time she lost after the delivery with all the medical issues she had to go through, was missing.”
Mouratoglou adds, “That is the reason why we decided to skip Madrid and Rome as she needed five weeks to be perfectly ready. ... I am very satisfied and confident that she will be ready for Roland Garros.”
Williams, a three-time French Open champion, has not played since a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in March at the Miami Open.
Roland Garros starts on May 27.