“I am delighted to be returning to the court in Abu Dhabi for the first time since the birth of my daughter,” she said in a statement released by the tournament organisers on Sunday.
“The Mubadala World Tennis Championship has long marked the beginning of the men’s global tennis season and I am excited and honoured to be making my comeback as part of the first women to participate in the event.”
The former world number one can equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles, although she will have to make do with a low seeding Down Under after slipping to 22nd in the rankings.
It also provides a boost the Australian Open, after two-time champion Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the warm-up event in Auckland over the ongoing custody battle that has stopped the Belarusian from playing since Wimbledon in July.
Serena claimed an Open-era record 23rd major title by beating older sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in this year’s Australian Open final, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that she was two months pregnant.
Ostapenko broke through with a stunning French Open title, and the 20-year-old will take on Serena for the first time.
The Mubadala event had already seen men’s world number one Rafael Nadal and three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka withdraw.
The six-strong men’s field in Abu Dhabi does feature Serb Novak Djokovic, who will also be making his comeback.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion has not played competitively since his quarter-final loss to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon because of an elbow injury.
