People don’t know just how serious Serena’s health issues were. But she damn near died!

After that close call, Serena headed back to the court for Wimbledon, which she’s won four times already. Her return was definitely triumphant as she stomped her first-round opponent Aravane Rezai.

But the news came after the match. Serena, who’s mostly reserved in her post-match interviews, was very emotional. The sobbing Williams managed to say: “I usually don’t cry … but it’s just been so hard…I never dreamt I would be here right now. And then to win. I just wanted to win at least one match here.”

If she goes on to win the tournament, this’ll be an inspirational story for the ages.