Serena Williams heads from royal wedding to Paris practice

Serena Williams made her intentions clear as she practised on the French Open clay courts hours after attending the royal wedding in the UK.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion looks set to return to competitive action for the first time since March when Roland Garros gets under way on Sunday.

Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian were among 600 guests at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor, 35km west of London, on Saturday.

The 36-year-old documented the day through social media, saying she was going to her ”friend’s wedding” in reference to American actress Markle.

???? on Chatrier…

Welcome back to our three-time champion @serenawilliams!

Watch the full practice: https://t.co/8ms6uyLFOT pic.twitter.com/hTIz7edIug

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 20, 2018

Williams attended both the service at St George’s Chapel and the evening reception, but the following day was practising on the Philippe Chatrier stadium court in Paris.

She last played at the Miami Open in March, before pulling out of clay-court events in Madrid and Rome as she continues to manage her return to competition following the birth of her first child in September.

Now ranked No.453, she has played just four singles matches in the last 16 months.

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said last week he was “confident” that Williams still planned to play in Paris and was not intending to skip the clay season altogether.

Williams is a three-time champion at the French Open and reached the final on her last appearance in 2016, losing to Garbine Muguruza.

Thank you Pierpaolo for making me look special on this special evening. @MaisonValentino pic.twitter.com/w2m6lEMyST

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) May 19, 2018