Rumors swirled on Tuesday that Serena Williams was plotting a return to professional tennis.
And they were not unfounded, either. In a document released by the International Tennis Integrity Agency a couple of months ago, Williams’ name was on the list of players who are registered in the ITIA’s testing pool. In order to be eligible for official WTA and ITF competitions, professional tennis players must be tested for performance-enhancing drugs and all other substances that the International Tennis Federation bans. Retired players, of course, have no reason to be on that list.
Additionally, Ben Rothenberg reported that Williams has filed paperwork to be reinstated. Assuming the 44-year-old did so at some point during or before October (when her name appeared on the ITIA document), she would be eligible to return no later than April of this coming season.
Williams, however, jumped on a firm denial later on Tuesday.
Following Williams’ Twitter post, Rothenberg made this addition to his Bounces piece:
“This reporting may have come out before Serena wanted or expected the news to surface, but she absolutely must have had some inclination to return to tennis to have put herself back in the testing pool. Reentering the whereabouts program—a daily tedium requiring constant updating of a person’s location for an hour each day—is not something anyone would ever do simply for fun.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion last competed at the 2022 U.S. Open.