Serena Williams Announces Tennis Comeback at 44

Serena Williams is officially returning to professional tennis.

Nearly four years after her last competitive match, the 23-time Grand Slam champion has confirmed that she will make her comeback at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London next week.

The 44-year-old announced the news in a Nike video with the simple message: “Guess everybody heard the news.”

Williams will compete in the doubles event and is set to partner rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko.

Speaking about her return, Williams said:

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter. 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 announcement ends months of speculation surrounding a possible comeback. Williams returned to the anti-doping testing pool late last year and had been spotted training in Florida, fueling rumors of a return to competition.

Williams has not played professionally since the 2022 US Open. At the time, she avoided using the word retirement, instead describing her departure from tennis as “evolving away” from the sport.

Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her sister, Venus Williams. She remains one of the most successful and influential figures the sport has ever seen.

While her return begins in doubles, attention is already turning to Wimbledon, where Williams is a seven-time singles champion.

The next chapter begins at Queen’s Club.