{"id":709430,"date":"2026-06-02T01:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709430\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T01:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:56:11","slug":"serena-williams-announces-tennis-comeback-at-44-with-queens-club-return-after-us-open-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709430\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams Announces Tennis Comeback At 44 With Queen\u2019s Club Return After US Open Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

In news that feels both shocking and somehow inevitable, Serena Williams has confirmed she\u2019s returning to professional tennis, nearly four years after stepping away from the sport she basically reshaped in her image.\n<\/p>\n

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has accepted a wildcard entry into the doubles draw at the Queen\u2019s Club Championships in London, kicking off June 8. It\u2019ll mark her first competitive appearance since the 2022 US Open<\/a>, where she famously said she was \u201cevolving\u201d away from tennis rather than retiring outright.<\/p>\n

Turns out, that evolution had a sequel.<\/p>\n

\"\"She\u2019s back!! (Image: Al Bello\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Williams, now 44 and a mum of two, confirmed the comeback in a typically understated way: a social video showing her walking off court while her phone buzzes non-stop. \u201cGuess everybody heard the news,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood news travels fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The video was posted in collaboration with Nike. (Image: Serena Williams \/ Instagram)<\/p>\n

And clearly, it does. Speculation has been bubbling for months, especially after she rejoined the sport\u2019s anti-doping testing pool last year, which is a non-negotiable step if you\u2019re even thinking about competing again. Former pro Jim Courier said in January <\/a>there was \u201cno doubt\u201d she was gearing up for a return, and here we are.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueen\u2019s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,\u201d Williams said in a statement released by tournament organisers. <\/p>\n

\u201cGrass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I\u2019m excited to be back competing on one of the sport\u2019s most iconic stages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reports suggest she\u2019ll partner with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in doubles, who is the\u00a0current Canadian No. 1 in women\u2019s singles and world No. 9 in the WTA singles ranking.<\/p>\n

Mboko kept things quiet when she was asked about Williams last week at the French Open. \u201cI\u2019m very happy. Me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice, because I really look up to her,\u201d she said, per The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, the fact that she even knows me is very exciting. I think for me I want to let the moment be for her. I feel like if she\u2019s ready to come back on her own terms, then I feel like it\u2019s up to her to announce that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Okay dream team?! (Image: Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The tennis world, unsurprisingly, is losing it. WTA chair Valerie Camillo didn\u2019t hold back, saying: \u201cSerena is one of the greatest athletes of all time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court\u2026 I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the looming question of Wimbledon. Williams has won seven titles there, and with the grass-court Grand Slam starting June 29, her Queen\u2019s appearance feels like more than a one-off.<\/p>\n

For context, Williams hasn\u2019t played since that third-round loss at Flushing Meadows in 2022, and she\u2019s spent the interim building businesses, raising her family and, more recently, documenting her return to fitness on social media.<\/p>\n

Still, if history has taught us anything, it\u2019s that you don\u2019t count Serena Williams out. Even now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In news that feels both shocking and somehow inevitable, Serena Williams has confirmed she\u2019s returning to professional tennis,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-709430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}