in Tennis Free Picks

Last month, Serena Williams shocked the tennis world by making her return to competitive tennis, overpowering the entire field en route to winning the 2007 Australian Open.

On Monday, it was sister Venus playing in her first tournament since last October, and only third match since July, due to a severely sprained left wrist.

The 26-year-old, right-handed hitting Williams, currently ranked 53rd in the WTA world rankings, had skipped two tournaments earlier this year, including the Australian Open, because she wasn’t fit enough to play.

In her match against Akiko Morigami of Japan, Williams had to overcome almost constant struggles with her serve after the four-month layoff, to defeat Morigami 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 on Monday night in the opening round of the Cellular South Cup, a Tier III WTA tournament.

"I definitely was a little rusty, and the first set went so quick, it was fairly easy," Williams said. "In the second set, I started to think and I made a few errors. It seemed like I couldn't stop the errors. It was like a windfall of errors."

Next up for Williams was Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Tuesday night. The 16-year-old Wozniacki took three sets to beat Stephanie Foretz of France 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 earlier on Monday.

Just last week, Williams stated publicly that she was ready to return to the court.

"I'm really confident at this point," Williams said after testing her wrist competitively. “I didn't really know what to expect in the first match."

On Tuesday, Williams continued her comeback with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

"I think this match was definitely better," Williams said after her second win in the tournament. "I definitely had a lot of good streaks of play.”

Williams is playing in her first tournament since October. She said her wrist didn't bother her Tuesday and stamina was not an issue after playing on consecutive days.

Here are some free picks from today’s Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as from other tournaments going on around the tennis world.

04:30 PM EST

Benjamin Becker -250

Robert Kendrick +185

Becker is one the best young players on tour and a player with a real opportunity to crack the top 20 at some point fairly soon. Becker fell one match short of reaching the SAP final recently, so he is playing very well right now and is as close to a sure thing in this match as there is.

Free Pick: Take Becker without a second thought.

Guillermo Canas -175

David Nalbandian +135

I’m not sure why Nalbandian, the more accomplished player here, isn’t the favorite, but he is undoubtedly the correct selection here.

Free Pick: Take the No. 11 player in the world, Nalbandian, to win easily here.

Andy Roddick -900

Thomas Johansson +450

Free Pick: Take Roddick to win in a closer-than-expected match.

Andy Murray -1200

Frank Dancevic +600

Murray is on the fast track to stardom right now and will derail Dancevic as quickly as possible so he can rest up for the tournament’s later rounds.

Free Pick: Murray in straight sets.