Billie Jean King encourages Serena Williams to come out of retirement: “If she enjoys playing tennis, why not?”

A week ago, all alarms were raised with a possible return to the courts of Serena Williams. It all started when the former tennis player herself signed up for the anti-doping program last summer, this being the first necessary requirement to be able to compete.

However, Serena Williams herself took care of denying it through her social networks:  “My God, I’m not going to come back! This fire is madness”“.But she continues to fuel speculation with other messages: “With a strong desire to recover my magic”. Her return to the courts, after retiring at the US Open 2022, seems distant, but in the world of tennis, you never know.

Andy Roddick and Billie Jean King try to solve the mystery of Serena Williams

To make matters worse, former tennis players of the caliber of Andy Roddick and Billie Jean King do not completely shut the door on the possible return of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Above all, the former world number one does not understand that request to sign up for the anti-doping program, while the 82-year-old former player is hoping for Serena Williams’ return. The Nebraska native discussed this issue on his own podcast, Serve by Andy Roddick.

“Why put yourself on the anti-doping list if you don’t want to come back? The reason you return to the doping protocols is that you like the option of coming back, and I don’t know how else to read this. And I’m sure I’ll get a furious email saying I’m adding fuel to the fire. But, yes, I am,” said the US Open champion in 2003.

More than trying to understand Serena Williams’ move, Billie Jean King has preferred to show her excitement for a hypothetical return of the tennis queen in statements to Sky Sports: “I think she wants to try to play again. But I also think she is very bright and intelligent, and knows she will not be number one again.”

But the 12-time Grand Slam champion wants to give her a push: “If you love playing, why not? Well, she already has life sorted out. She doesn’t need money and enjoys it. Personally, I would love Williams to come back.”

She also took the opportunity to reminisce about the moment she first met Serena and her sister Venus: “I met her when she was six years old and her sister Venus seven at a tennis clinic we held in Long Beach, California. They came with their father, Richard. It was an incredible day. I will never forget it. It was immediately noticeable that they were exceptional.”

And she had no problem stating that Serena Williams’ service technique is the best that has ever existed in the history of tennis: “I want everyone to understand one thing about Serena: she has the most beautiful service game in the world. No one has had a better service technique than Serena Williams. I saw it when she was six years old. I saw her serving. I thought, ‘My God, don’t change anything!’. If she returns, I want people to appreciate her serve. Pete Sampras and I used to talk about it. Her serve is technically perfect. All the young ones who want to be excellent, watch her serve. Her serve remains the best technique in the history of the game,” says a Billie Jean King who longs for the return of Serena Williams to the tennis world.
 

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Billie Jean King anima a Serena Williams a volver del retiro: “Si le gusta jugar al tenis, ¿por qué no?”