Serena Williams doesn’t rule out singles return as she preps for tennis comeback at 44

As the tennis world prepares to welcome Serena Williams back to doubles competition, the 39-time Grand Slam champion overall is not ruling out a return to the singles bracket. 

“I can’t say no right now,” she told reporters after a training session with her Queen’s Club doubles partner, Victoria Mboko, on Sunday. “I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles, and we will see if I get there, and if not … that’s not my journey right now.”

Williams was granted a wild card for women’s doubles at the HSBC Championships in London. 

Monday will mark the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion’s first competitive tennis match since the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open. She sits behind only Margaret Court’s 24 for the most ever by a woman.

Williams and the Canadian Mboko are set to face Erin Routliffe of Australia and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez.

While Williams never officially retired, the comeback comes as a bit of a shock to the mother of two, who announced her decision to “evolve away” from tennis in a personal essay published in Vogue in September of that year. 

Williams, who spent 319 weeks as the WTA No. 1 at the peak of her career, is taking a low-pressure approach to her return. 

“I don’t need to win,” the seven-time Wimbledon singles champion said. “I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives, so it’s not that important to me, and it’s important that I keep reminding myself of that, because I don’t have anything to prove.

“I don’t have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain.”

Despite denying a return to tennis as recently as December, Williams said she ultimately thought: “Why not?” Since her two daughters – Olympia and Adira – are older now, the 44-year-old expressed excitement over having her children experience her competing.  

Williams noted that she saw something in Mboko that reminded her a lot of herself. After committing to the tournament, William said she reached out to Mboko via text message. 

“For me, right now, it’s really just about so many elements,” Williams said. “It’s really about my kids getting to see me play. Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. An athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to do that, possibly one last time, is kind of cool and exciting.”