Serena Williams chillaxes in Miami

Tennis champ Serena Williams, who has been recovering from injury, appears to be back to her old self as she takes a holiday in Miami Florida.

Here she is smiling and joking with a friend as on the beach.

Serena sensibly stayed in the shade for most of the time, donning a Nike white cap and shades.

The 29-year-old tennis player has been sidelined from her sport since claiming her 13th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last July. She is recovering from an operation to remove a large blood clot found in her lung in February.

Serena developed a haematoma from a pulmonary embolism, stemming from an incident when she cut her foot on broken glass in a Munich restaurant last July.

'I definitely have not been happy,' she said recently. 'Especially when I had that second (foot) surgery, I was definitely depressed. I cried all the time. I was miserable to be around.'

Serena, who has slipped to world number 11 in her absence from the WTA Tour, is unlikely to return before the summer and admitted that the time spent on the sidelines had taken an emotional toll.

More photos! See more celebrities on the beach here!