{"id":722175,"date":"2026-06-08T02:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T02:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722175\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T02:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T02:29:12","slug":"the-heartwarming-reason-why-serenas-back-on-tennis-big-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722175\/","title":{"rendered":"The heartwarming reason why Serena\u2019s back on tennis\u2019 big stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams said the chance to play in front of her children was the driving force behind her sensational return to tennis<\/a> as the American legend played down a potential singles comeback.<\/p>\n

Four years after appearing to end her glittering career, Williams on Monday announced that she will come out of retirement in the doubles tournament at Queen\u2019s Club in west London next week.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old\u2019s shock return has captured the imagination of the sporting world.<\/p>\n

Fans lined the practice court to catch a glimpse of Williams at Queen\u2019s on Sunday, filming the 23-time Grand Slam champion\u2019s every move on their phones, while photographers trained their lenses on the her.<\/p>\n

For Williams, it is a pair of spectators in particular that fuelled her decision to get back on court.<\/p>\n

She has two young daughters with husband Alexis Ohanian and is keen for them to see her play in a competitive environment before finally hanging up her racquet for good.<\/p>\n

Asked why she opted to come back, Williams told reporters at Queen\u2019s on Sunday: \u201cFor me right now, there are so many elements, you know.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about the kids seeing me play. Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. It\u2019s components like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also, an athlete is the best thing you can be, in the highest place and having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting. And so there is a little bit of that too.\u201d Granted a wildcard into the Queen\u2019s doubles, Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko face third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round next week.<\/p>\n

After competing at Queen\u2019s, Williams will take part in the doubles at the Berlin Open from June 15-21.<\/p>\n

In her first press conference since announcing her return, Williams played down suggestions that she would extend her return to singles competition.<\/p>\n

But, with Wimbledon looming later in June, she did not completely rule out the possibility of featuring at a tournament she has won seven times.<\/p>\n

\u2018NOTHING TO LOSE\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cFor singles, I can\u2019t say yeah and I can\u2019t say no. Right now, no. I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will see if I get there and if not it is not my journey right now.\u201d Williams\u2019s return comes 31 years after her first professional match. How did one of the most iconic figures in tennis history decide the lure of the court was still too strong to resist?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn December, I was definitely not (coming back). And then I was just talking to a few people. Just chatting about different possibilities, for fun, something a little bit different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is like, \u2018What are you thinking?\u2019 But it\u2019s summer, the kids are out of school, perfect time to get out and have some fun.\u201d Williams admitted to missing the tennis lifestyle, but it took a while to finally commit to returning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a last minute decision but it was a last minute committment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing I\u2019ve missed is just the atmosphere and the travel. I\u2019ve played literally my entire life. You kind of take it for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now, there are different things I can try to experience in a different way with my family.\u201d Williams has not played since saying she was \u201cevolving away\u201d from tennis after losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the US Open in 2022.<\/p>\n

Doubts remain over whether Williams can get anywhere near her all-conquering best, but it is the journey, rather than the destination, that drives her these days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good. I hit with Vicky (Mboko) twice and today I felt a lot better. It\u2019s riding a bike up a hill but I\u2019m enjoying the ride,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need to win. I\u2019ve won more than most people have their entire lives. So for me that is not important. It is important I keep reminding myself of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have anything to prove, I don\u2019t have anything to lose and everything to gain.\u201dsmg\/bc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serena Williams said the chance to play in front of her children was the driving force behind her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[2620,34822,349915,64,63,349913,349917,349914,348791,349911,349910,668,38693,349916,6413,349912,85,747,41118,349918,2614,108275],"class_list":["post-722175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-alexis-ohanian","tag-american-legend","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-canadian-teenager","tag-doubles-tournament","tag-minute-committment","tag-minute-decision","tag-nicole-melichar-martinez","tag-practice-court","tag-press-conference","tag-professional-match","tag-sensational-return","tag-serena-williams","tag-singles-comeback","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-history","tag-tennis-lifestyle","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-young-daughters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722175","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=722175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}