JOIN USFormer world number one Serena Williams will make a surprise comeback at the Mubadala exhibition event in Abu Dhabi next Saturday, as she gears up for her Australian Open title defence in January.
The decision to play in the United Arab Emirates should virtually confirm Williams' participation at Melbourne Park.
The 36-year-old has not played since clinching a 23rd Grand Slam singles title 11 months ago, after revealing she was pregnant during the tournament and taking time off to give birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia in September.
Williams will return with a match against Latvia's French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, making them the first women to compete in the previously male-only event.
"I am delighted to be returning to the court in Abu Dhabi for the first time since the birth of my daughter," she said in a statement released by the tournament organisers on Sunday.
"The Mubadala World Tennis Championship has long marked the beginning of the men's global tennis season and I am excited and honoured to be making my comeback as part of the first women to participate in the event."
The former world number one can equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, although she will have to make do with a low seeding Down Under after slipping to 22nd in the rankings.
Williams' comeback raises the prospect of a renewal of her one-sided rivalry with Maria Sharapova, after the Russian's own comeback earlier this year from a doping ban.