Since then she's had a drama filled twelve months.
But the back to back defending Wimbledon Ladies singles champion opened her title defense against France's Aravane Rezai with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 three set.win.
After a shaky start which found her down 2-0, she got it together and won the next 5 games to take control of the first set and win it
After staying on serve for most of the second set, Rezai took advantage of a service break and a mid match Little Sis slump to race to a 4-2 lead that led to her evening the match.
There's an old saying I'm paraphrasing that you don't tug on Superwoman's cape, and at that point Serena went into tennis beatdown mode. She got focused, got the service break she needed to race out to an eventual 5-1 lead, and closed out the match with her 13th ace to seal her win.
It was a shaky but emotional win for Little Sis, and showed why the Wimbledon folks seeded her at number 7 in the first place. Remember, this is a woman who was ranked number 81 in the world in 2007, but won the Australian Open. Big Sis won her last Wimbledon title after a long layoff and ranked 23rd in the world.
I never underestimate a Williams sister, and especially when they are standing on the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Next up for Serena in the second round is Romania's Simona Halep