WATCH: Serena Williams wins superb rally, says she went into ‘mom mode’ after spotting daughter in the crowd

WTA Tour
Serena Williams stunned

She hasn’t played too many matches over the past few years, but Serena Williams can still play long rallies and pull off vintage shots at will as she proved during her match against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz at the Canadian Open – and her daughter Olympia was there to witness it.

Playing in only her second singles match in over a year, the 23-time tennis legend defeated lucky loser Parrizas-Diaz in Toronto for her first win since last year’s French Open.

The score suggested it was a one-sided match, but the soon-to-be 41-year-old Williams had to work for some of her points. One such point came in the second set when she was a break point down and put up a brilliant defensive display before hitting a phenomenal forehand winner.

That point set her on her way to a 6-3, 6-4 victory and after the match she got to celebrate with her husband Alexis Ohanian and daughter Olympia.

Four-year-old Olympic was watching her mother for the first time and Williams revealed that she went into “mom mode” after spotting her daughter in the crowd during the early stages of the match.

“She’s never like sat at my match. So I was super excited,” Williams said. “I looked over and I saw her in the first middle of the first set and I was like, Oh, my God, why is she here? And then I went into mom mode, like, does she have on her sun cream? I was like, Okay, Serena, should I say something like, Take her upstairs to the suite. Because she never like, she’s never been to my match.

“So it’s kind of cool that it happened in Toronto but I didn’t expect it. But I was like, Okay Serena, just let go and enjoy this. It was good for her to have that memory. I mean, it’s pretty cool. And she’s never had it because I’ve always kept her away. And I’m so happy that she came out there and so it was good. And then I was like, Okay, no racket smashing (laughing) stay calm.”

The unseeded American will be back in action on Wednesday and will take on either 14th seed Belinda Bencic from Switzerland or Tereza Martincova from the Czech Republic for a place in the third round.

Serena Williams

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