Serena Williams Is Officially Coming Back To Tennis
Serena Williams is officially coming back to tennis.
Next week, Williams will be playing doubles at the WTA 500 Queen’s Club event in London, the tournament announced on social media. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is set to make her return to the court at 44-years-old after four years of not playing professionally.
The Athletic reported that Williams received one of the two available wildcards to play in the tournament and will be partnered with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.
“Serena is one of the greatest athletes of all-time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court,” said Chair of the WTA, Valerie Camillo.
“[Serena Williams] return is an expression of her passion for competition, and I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players.”
Williams’ return to the game was actually hinted at towards the end of last year after she quietly re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s registered testing pool. In order for any player to make a comeback to tennis, they need to “make themselves available for testing for six months before they can compete again,” in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency regulations.
“Serena Williams is back on the Registered Testing Pool list,” an ITIA spokesperson told The Guardian last year.
Despite this sneaky registration, Williams still tried to downplay her potential return online.
“Omg y’all I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” she posted back in December.
The last time Williams stepped on the court was in the 2022 US Open after she publicly stated that she was “evolving away” from tennis to focus more on her entrepreneurial projects. In August 2023, she also gave birth to her second daughter with her husband Alexis Ohanian.
Despite how busy she’s been, however, within the past four years the rumors of her potential return never quieted down. As an athlete she always had a focus on taking care of her body, but there’s been a magnifying glass focused on just how much dedication she was putting into her fitness in tandem with the return rumors.
In August 2025, she told People Magazine that she lost 31-pounds while using a GLP-1, and a year prior she told the publication that in lieu of tennis she had taken up running, but “missed tennis like crazy.”
The talks of her return also intensified earlier this year after she made an appearance on the Today show and had a joking back-and-fourth with co-host Savannah Guthrie regarding her coming out of retirement.
“Recently — tell me if I have this right — you reentered the drug testing pool, which some see as the precursor to a return to tennis. So you know I have to ask, are you returning to professional tennis?” Guthrie said.
Williams, letting out a laugh, replied “I mean, really? Are you asking this on the Today show? Oh my gosh.”
Guthrie, continuing to press, asked, “Is that a no?”
“Is that a no?” Williams asked, also acknowledging a man off camera who was laughing. “All the people on your set are laughing. This is distracting. You’re distracting us over there.”
“Okay, but you didn’t say yes or no,” Guthrie continued.
Williams finally responded with “I’m just having fun and enjoying my life right now, I’m just gonna see what happens.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
