Look at 10 Serena Williams private pictures that got fans talking…

It’s hard to have much rock ‘n roll in tennis. The sport just doesn’t lend itself to such, especially during prestigious grass-court tournaments in leafy London suburbs such as this year’s Queen’s Club Championships.

But when Serena Williams walked out on court for her first tennis match in almost four years on Tuesday, it did kind of feel a bit rock ‘n roll – a bit cool, a bit like this shouldn’t really be happening.

But instead of Oasis wearing parka jackets and strumming guitars on Wembley Stadium’s stage, this was one of the world’s greatest athletes, in bright pink sneakers, grasping her tennis racket.

It was a bit surreal, in truth, to see Williams grace the court again. It was almost as if you’d stepped into some montage of tennis’ greatest ever moments on YouTube. It felt rare, it felt special and everyone crammed into the Andy Murray Arena felt lucky to be there.

So when Williams walked out of the locker room, following her teenage teammate Victoria Mboko down the stairs toward the court, the reaction she got from the sold-out crowd came as little surprise.

But there was no wave to her adoring fans from Williams, no acknowledgment that this was anything out of the ordinary for her. This may not be prime Serena, but it was a 44-year-old fully focused on the job at hand.

Even when the stadium announcer ran through her list of career achievements to yet more frenzied cheering from the stands, Williams didn’t stray from her warmup. She was calm, relaxed and held that inner steel that has made her such a formidable opponent over the years.

It was a level of focus that didn’t wane. Despite sending her first shot into the net, Williams didn’t miss with her second or third touches of the match. The second shot was an aggressive volley that was just about returned, but her third saw Williams swat the return volley away, accompanied by that trademark grunt that’s echoed around tennis venues for decades.

Her first winner of the match was cheered so loudly by the crowd that many spectators stood to applaud. One fan sitting just behind Williams’ family literally screamed with excitement, pumping her fist in the air and turning to hype up the crowd.