Serena Williams has accepted a wild card into next week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The world No. 1 has not played since losing to Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round of the Australian Open, when she was contending with a back injury. She decided to skip the United States' Fed Cup tie in Cleveland and pulled out of this week’s event in Doha.
The 32-year-old has not played Dubai since 2009, when she lost to her sister Venus in the semifinals. Venus is also playing Dubai this year. Had Serena not taken the wild card, she would have been off until Miami in mid-March. The U.S. Open champion was on the entry list for Indian Wells, an event she hasn't played since 2001, but withdrew.