Serena Williams ecstatic at making her comeback the same day as Beyonce released her new song

Fans at the Eastbourne International welcomed 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams with a standing ovation as the American walked out to play her first competitive match in nearly a year.

Williams partnered World No. 3 Ons Jabeur to enter the Rothesay International and got off to a solid start with a win over Sara Tormo and Marie Buzkova in the first round of the women's doubles.

Similarly, American music sensation Beyonce released her new single "Break My Soul" off her upcoming album Rennaissance on Tuesday. The lively dance record features samples from Robin Stone's 1990 hit "Show me Love" and Big Freedia's "Explode" from 2014.

The Tricky Stewart and Dream-produced record sounds distinctly like house music, which Beyonce is experimenting with for the first time to capitalize on the popularity of the genre at the moment.

Serena and Beyonce, who are known to be good friends, shared the screen for a music video back in 2016. Shot in black and white, the song, titled "Sorry" from Beyonce's Lemonade single, featured Serena in a Southern mansion dancing seductively around Beyonce.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion also revealed that her cameo role in the music video was not the easiest thing to do in the world.

"She told me that she just wants me to dance, like just be really free and just dance like nobody's looking and go all out. So that wasn't easy in the beginning, but then it got easier," Serena Williams said.

Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur's next opponents

Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur at the Rothesay International Eastbourne.

After securing a remarkable comeback win, Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur will square off against Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao in the second round of the Eastbourne International Rothesay Classic.

The Taiwanese and Japanese duo edged out the No. 4 seeds Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 6-7(3),10-7 in a nail-biting encounter.

Aoyama and Hao started on a positive note to gain the advantage after breaking their opposition's serve in the penultimate game of the first set. Mirza and Hradecka fought back to level the match and even saved four match points in the ten-point shootout, but couldn't find a way past the Asian pair.

Williams and Jabeur also secured a brilliant comeback win in their first-round match. This was the first time the American and Tunisian were paired up on the court and they took some time to catch up with the pace. They played themselves into form in the second set and won a nerve-wracking decider to progress to the second round.

Williams will be looking to get as much game time as possible to have a decent preparation going into Wimbledon which starts in a week's time on June 27.