[PHOTOs] Serena Williams Cries After a Triumphant Return to Wimbledon 2011

Serena Williams, US, took about 96 minutes to defeat Aravane Rezai, France. Williams was absent from the game for 11 long months. First, she stepped on broken glass in a Munich restaurant and had the longest time-out of her career. A few months later she had to remove life-threatening blood clots. So she barely had enough time to train for Wimbledon 2011 and was officially ranked 25^th.

In her game against Rezai, she won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

I didn't expect to have any emotions, she told reporters after the match. [But] it was so emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months I've been through a lot of things that are not normal, things you guys don't even know about. It's been a long arduous road. I learnt that you can never take anything for granted.

Williams also said, I love Wimbledon, I love playing tennis and I love being part of the competition, and I thought if I could make it, I'd try to do my best. So making it and winning was pretty cool.