Serena Williams wonât play in Australian Open as she returns from childbirth
Serena Williams
Serena Williams  plays in an exhibition match against Jelena Ostapenko. (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
 Serena Williams  announced Thursday that  she  will not be playing in next weekâs Australian Open  saying  she  didnât want to compete in a tournament  she  felt  she  couldnât get all the way through to a championship. Last week  the 36-year-old played in  her  first competitive match since giving birth to  her  daughter  Alexis Olympia  on Sept. 1.
Of that exhibition match  which  she  lost to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko   Williams  said in a statement posted on Snapchat  âAfter competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I am super close  Iâm not where I personally want to be.â
âMy coach and team always said âonly go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the wayâ. I can compete â but I donât want to just compete  I want to do far better than that and to do so  I will need a little more time â  Williams  continued. âWith that being said  and even though I am disappointed about it  Iâve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.
After winning last year in Melbourne  defeating her sister Venus for her 23rd Grand Slam singles title   Williams  revealed that  she  had competed at the tournament only a couple of days following the discovery that  she  was approximately eight weeks pregnant. Saying in April that  she  had been ânervousâ about playing in such a condition   Williams  added  âI really felt that I didnât have time to deal with any extra emotions  any extra anything  because  pregnant or not  no one knew  and I was supposed to win that tournament as I am every tournament that I show up [for]. If I donât win  itâs actually much bigger news.â
 Williams  took the rest of the 2017 season off and had  her  daughter with then-fiance Alexis Ohanian (now her husband)  before she was said by Aussie Open tournament director Craig Tiley to want to âdefend her title.â Just before Christmas  she thrilled her fans by announcing that she would play in the exhibition against Ostapenko  but they will have to wait a bit longer to see her in a more consequential match.
[TGT] plays in an exhibition match against Jelena Ostapenko. (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
  [TGT] announced Thursday that   [TGT]   will not be playing in next weekâs Australian Open  saying   [TGT]   didnât want to compete in a tournament   [TGT]   felt   [TGT]   couldnât get all the way through to a championship. Last week  the 36-year-old played in  her  first competitive match since giving birth to  her  daughter  Alexis Olympia  on Sept. 1.
Of that exhibition match  which  she  lost to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko   Williams  said in a statement posted on Snapchat  âAfter competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I am super close  Iâm not where I personally want to be.â
âMy coach and team always said âonly go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the wayâ. I can compete â but I donât want to just compete  I want to do far better than that and to do so  I will need a little more time â  Williams  continued. âWith that being said  and even though I am disappointed about it  Iâve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.
After winning last year in Melbourne  defeating her sister Venus for her 23rd Grand Slam singles title   Williams  revealed that  she  had competed at the tournament only a couple of days following the discovery that  she  was approximately eight weeks pregnant. Saying in April that  she  had been ânervousâ about playing in such a condition   Williams  added  âI really felt that I didnât have time to deal with any extra emotions  any extra anything  because  pregnant or not  no one knew  and I was supposed to win that tournament as I am every tournament that I show up [for]. If I donât win  itâs actually much bigger news.â
 Williams  took the rest of the 2017 season off and had  her  daughter with then-fiance Alexis Ohanian (now her husband)  before she was said by Aussie Open tournament director Craig Tiley to want to âdefend her title.â Just before Christmas  she thrilled her fans by announcing that she would play in the exhibition against Ostapenko  but they will have to wait a bit longer to see her in a more consequential match.