Serena Williams went for a striking catsuit look as she returned to Grand Slam action with victory in the first round of the French Open.
Dressed in a figure-hugging black outfit with a pink band around her waist, the 36 year-old American saw off world No 70 Kristyna Pliskova 7-6, 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes.
While clearly not at the kind of physical level that has brought her 23 Grand Slam titles, Williams showed that a winner's mentality remains intact as she came through a stern examination after weeks of preparation on the clay.
Playing her first Major since the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia on September 1, she is determined to show that the competitive fire still burns bright.
She will struggle to win the French Open on this evidence, but the medium term goal will be to mount a serious challenge at Wimbledon, and that may well be within range.
'I'm very happy,' said Williams. ' She played really well, she made a lot of aces (15). Two years has been a long time but I trained really hard on the clay. I'm taking it a day at a time.'
The former world number one briefly returned for the American hardcourt season, but suffered early losses to sister Venus and Naomi Osaka in Indian Wells and Miami respectively.
Should she get through the first couple of rounds, Serena appears to have been handed a good draw, although may have a potential last-16 clash with Kristyna Pliskova’s sister and sixth seed Karolina, who reached the semi-finals last year.
There has been controversy surrounding the decision by French Open organizers not to give her a seeding, with Wimbledon likely to do just that for their tournament in July based on her grass-court pedigree.
But fellow former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka have both backed Roland Garros, saying that Serena shouldn’t get special treatment.
