Serena Williams is set to return to professional tennis nearly four years after stepping away from the sport at the 2022 US Open. The Florida-based icon plans to restart her iconic career at next week’s HSBC Championships, a WTA 500 event staged at the Queen’s Club in London.
Williams has been awarded a Wild Card to play doubles at Queen’s Club, with a partner to be announced in due course.
Williams, now 44 years old, spent 319 weeks as the WTA World No.1 and owns 73 singles titles, including 23 Grand Slam singles trophies, the Open Era record. She remains the only player to achieve a “Career Golden Slam” in singles and doubles, and is the prize money leader in women’s sports.
Left: Rick Macci with the Williams family during the early days of both Serena’s and Venus’ junior tennis journey. Right: Rick Macci with Serena Williams at the “King Richard” movie premiere. Photos courtesy of Rick Macci Tennis Academy.
Rick Macci, Williams’ childhood coach, told Florida Tennis that Serena remains “the greatest competitor ever to hold the stick” and said her “thirst for competition was like no other.” Macci also noted that Williams still has “one of top three serves on the planet” and added that she “will try doubles first but do not be surprised if she plays singles at Wimbledon.”
Williams was 20 when she rose to WTA World No.1. She secured the Year-End WTA No.1 Ranking five times and, at age 35, she became the oldest player to rank No.1, 15 years after her first reign.
Above: Serena Williams at Wimbledon. Photo credit: Jimmie48/WTA.
“Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” said Martina Navratilova, the previous oldest WTA World No.1 to launch a comeback after retirement, at 43 years old.
In recent years, Williams has focused on a range of entrepreneurial endeavors, including Serena Ventures, a venture capital fund created in 2017 that has invested in more than 85 companies, focusing on businesses founded by women or people of color. Her sports-related investments include stakes in WNBA team Toronto Tempo and NWSL’s Angel City FC.
Now, with a doubles return set for Queen’s Club and Macci suggesting singles should not be ruled out, Serena Williams is once again giving tennis a reason to watch closely.
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Source: WTA. Additional reporting from Florida Tennis.
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