Serena Williams remains upbeat heading into busy summer

After injuries and illnesses kept her off the court for almost a year, Serena Williams said her game is on its way back to where it was when she dominated en route to her fourth Wimbledon title in 2010. On Thursday, Williams played her first competitive match in the United States since the 2009 U.S. Open, helping the Washington Kastles beat the Boston Lobsters in a World TeamTennis (WTT) Pro League match. "I'm getting there," Williams said, adding she is feeling well. "Hopefully, I'll be there really soon." In this year's Wimbledon, Williams made a fourth-round exit. It was just her second tournament since returning to the court. She also played in the Aegon International Tournament in Eastbourne, England the week before Wimbledon. "I made it (to Wimbledon) and I feel like I showed up and I did a halfway decent job and just continue to build on that and do better," said the 13-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No. 1. On Thursday, just two days after her sister Venus played for the Kastles on the same court, Williams played in the maximum number of events. She teamed up with Rennae Stubbs to win the women's doubles portion of the match 5-2 before she and Leander Paes won mixed doubles 5-1. With the home crowd cheering her on, Williams defeated Coco Vandeweghe, who is No. 98 in the world, in women's singles in a tiebreaking 5-4 victory. But along with helping the Kastles to a 25-10 win, Williams also appeared to be relaxed and having fun on the court. Often, she could be seen smiling and singing and dancing to the music played at Kastles Stadium during various timeouts. But up until recently, fun was hard to come by for Williams. Her run of bad luck started just days after winning Wimbledon in 2010 when she cut her foot on broken glass at a restaurant in Germany. She damaged a tendon in her foot and later had two operations. Then, in February, she suffered a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs. She was also hospitalized to remove a hematoma from her stomach. "You just learn that you can go through a lot and you just keep trying and you can't give up and you just continue to enjoy yourself and have fun," Williams said. She added: "I just draw my strength from my ability to always want to play hard and do well and I always say never give up." Because of her recent lack of court-time, Williams dropped 150 spots to No. 175 in this week's rankings. She said that's not something she particularly thinks about, saying "it is what it is." Kastles coach Murphy Jensen said he doesn't think it will be long until Williams is back to playing at the level she did before her injury. "She's around the corner," Jensen said, calling her the biggest ball striker in the history of the game. "I pick her to win the U.S. Open. I pick her to win four Grand Slams next year. No girl in the world can hit a ball like Serena or Venus Williams." Williams, 29, has a busy summer ahead. She said she plans on playing in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, Calif., the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati before the U.S. Open, which runs Aug. 29 to Sept. 11. She said she wants to work on everything, including relaxing and having fun. "Definitely looking to make adjustments and just making my game better," Williams said. "I've always thought I could be better. And hopefully I can get to that point."