Serena Williams Cries at Wimbledon

For the past year the game of tennis had lost one of its most impressive stars as Serena Williams battled for her life after discovering she had a blood clot in her lungs.

So when she chose to make her return to the game she did so in a big way: Centre Court at Wimbledon.

Her one year hiatus from tennis was plagued with surgeries and life threatening ailments that seemed to promise to bring an end to her tennis career. But today, Serena Williams has safely secured herself a spot in the second round of the tournament after defeating Aravane Rezai of France in three sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-1).

But it was the outpouring of emotion from the younger Williams sister that made headlines. Serena, who claims that she is, “not a crier,” was happy to prove that claim false.

“It just hit me at the end of the match,” Williams said with eyes bulging with tears of joy. "It was definitely emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months I've been through a lot of things that aren't normal, that people don't even know about.”

Reigning Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who just a few months ago believed her tennis career was over, will face Romanian Simona Halep in the second round.