Serena Williams won her first match at Indian Wells since 2001 on Saturday (AEDT), beating Monica Niculescu in straight sets to end her 14-year self-imposed exile.
World No.1 Williams earned the 7-5 7-5 victory in just more than two hours in front of a crowd of about 14,000 on the Tennis Garden stadium court.
The 19-time Grand Slam winner walked onto the court to loud cheers from the crowd, a sharp contrast to her last Indian Wells appearance in 2001 when as a 19-year-old teenager she was booed after beating Kim Clijsters in the final.