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Serena Williams Loses in a Low-Stake Return at the Fed Cup

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Serena Williams officially returned to professional tennis in the most low-stakes manner possible on Sunday: playing a Fed Cup doubles match with her sister Venus after the United States had already clinched victory in this first-round duel with the Netherlands.

In Fed Cup parlance, the doubles match was a dead rubber, and it was the softest of re-entry vehicles for Serena Williams after more than a year away from the tour she once dominated.

With her 5-month-old daughter Alexis Olympia sitting courtside, Williams looked overeager at times and understandably rusty. She shanked her first overhead and mishit returns and volleys.