Serena Williams returning to pro tennis at 44
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has accepted a wild card to play doubles at Queen's Club next week. Wimbledon return possible.
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Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis at age 44 after nearly four years away from the sport. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen's Club grass-court tournament in London, the WTA Tour announced Monday. Williams last competed at the 2022 U.
S. Open, where she said she was "evolving" away from tennis rather than officially retiring. "Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in a statement.
"Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career and I'm excited to be back competing on one of the sport's most iconic stages." The Queen's Club tournament begins next Monday, with a partner to be announced. Williams' return on grass raises speculation she also plans to compete at Wimbledon, which starts June 28, where she has won seven singles titles.
Williams became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis' mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier — the first step toward a comeback. She recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with her daughter, captioning it "Rumor has it…I got a new trainer." Her second daughter was born in 2023.
Former champion Martina Navratilova, who launched her own comeback at 43 years and 10 months, praised the move. "Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she's pushing the boundaries and coming back," Navratilova said. Defending French Open champion Coco Gauff called it a missed opportunity for herself.
"One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her. It would be cool for this sport to have a legend back," Gauff said.