Serena Williams is fit and ready to play after 6-month break

Serena Williams flexed and n kissed a sinewy right bicep to show down time well spent in training even without bench pressing.

“This is God given, thank you very much,” 23-time Grand Slam champion said as she thanked her mor, Oracene.

Williams now looks to flex her muscles on a tennis court for first time in six months.

She is preparing for inaugural Top Seed Open that opens Monday near Lexington, a recently ded hard court tournament that serves as a tuneup for this month’s U.S. Open in New York.

WTA’s first event in U.S. since March features a spectator-free field that includes sister Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner herself, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and rising star Coco Gauff.

Serena Williams, ranked No. 9, is competing for first time since playing for U.S. in Fed Cup in February. pandemic quickly shut everything down next month, forcing an extended layoff.

Williams has a history of blood clots and pulmonary embolisms that have affected her lung capacity. She has been “super, super careful” in avoiding exposure to COVID-19. 38-year-old acknowledged during Saturday’s virtual news conference that she's been “a bit of a recluse," in dition to owning 50 face masks and taking social distancing to an extreme.

“And everyone in Serena bubble is really protective because at end of day, yeah, it’s cool to play tennis, but this is my life and this is my health,” Williams said.

“I’ve been a little neurotic to an extent, but that’s just what I have to be right now.”

Williams and Azarenka enter tournament with open minds, hungry to resume competition.

“You want to just start somewhere,” said Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champ ranked 58th.

“You can practice for so long, but re’s nothing like playing actual matches where you know atmosphere. I don’t really know what to expect because I’ve only played once in Charleston without crowd. It’s going to be an justment.”

ro no doubt goes through Williams, tournament’s only top-10 player and a presumptive favorite no matter circumstances. If results from Williams’ previous comeback from a long break are any indication, she has something to look forward to.

Williams returned from September 2017 birth of her daughter, Olympia, to reach past two finals at Wimbledon and U.S. Open. She began this year by winning ASB Classic in New Zealand before reaching Australian Open round of 32 and splitting two first-round matches at Fed Cup.

She has also stayed busy during lockdown.

Williams is in process on building a home gym in her Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, home. Her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, built a tennis court for her. Both have also spoken out on social justice issues during a tumultuous summer in which death of Breonna Taylor during a raid by Louisville police sparked ongoing protests.

Williams is pursuing a 24th Slam that would tie Margaret Court’s record. That quest will resume at Open. For now, she looks to shake off rust from a long absence — much like everybody else.

“Everyone has to take a break and pause," she said. And it’ll be really fun and interesting to see how we play.”