After imprisonment they are preparing for a friendly match

Serena Williams was preparing to face Naomi Osaka at the Adelaide Expo yesterday. But after 14 days of quarantine as part of the measures imposed in Australia in the face of the epidemic, he decided to do something else.

The American, winner of 23 Grand Slam championships, escorted her daughter to the zoo.

Williams admitted that she counted confinement days in the calendar while spending time with her three-year-old daughter Olympia.

“We went to the zoo,” said Serena of the first thing she did after coming out of quarantine.

Serena’s encounter with Naomi will be a re-release of the controversial final of the US Open 2018. Naomi defeated Serena 6-2, 6-4 to win her first Grand Slam title.

The visit looked like a good pre-match routine for Serena, who defeated Naomi 6-2, 2-6, 10-7. Both players showed clear signs of inactivity, taking winning balls off the field or sending relatively easy passes into the net.

“Thank you all for hosting us. Honestly, we haven’t played with an audience in over a year, it’s been a long time so that’s great,” said Serena.

In the men, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, second in the world rankings, beat Dominic Tim, US Open champion, 7-5, 6-4, to open the night matches program in Adelaide, a tournament played on solid ground.

Romanian Simona Halep, the second best player in the world, beat Australian number one Ash Party 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 in the last game of that night.

It was Party’s first game in 11 months due to travel restrictions due to the Coronavirus.

In the first match in Adelaide, Novak Djokovic missed the start of his exhibition against Italian Yanik Sener. Djokovic, first in the world ranking, was receiving treatment from a blister in his hand.

Sener began the confrontation with Philippe Krajinovic before the Serbian, eight-time Australian champion, arrived on the field for the second group.

Kraginovic won the first set 6-3 and Djokovic finished second with the same score to give the Serbian a victory in the relay.

“I apologize for not getting to court on time.” Djokovic told fans in an interview after the match, “I had to undergo treatment with a physiotherapist. “I wanted to play, I wanted to appear here.”

Adelaide is the only Australian Open pre-season event not held in Melbourne. Other Sundays will start, including the ATP Cup and three WTA tournaments.