Mboko said<\/a>, per AFP.<\/p>\n“I feel like if she’s ready to come back on her own terms, then I feel like it’s up to her to announce that.<\/p>\n
“Other than that, I don’t really have much to say. I think the moment is all up to her and when she’s ready to come back. Yeah, it’s up to her.”<\/p>\n
Davenport said some current women\u2019s players went down to Florida to practice with Williams recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,\u201d Davenport said. \u201cSo I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don\u2019t know if she\u2019s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We\u2019ll have to see how she can handle that physically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams, who has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles overall in her storied career,\u00a0became eligible to compete in February\u00a0after re-registering with tennis\u2019 mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier \u2014 which is the first step toward a comeback.<\/p>\n
Djokovic is competitive at 39<\/p>\n
Davenport noted how\u00a0Novak Djokovic is still competitive at 39\u00a0\u2014 having recently pushed 19-year-old Joao Fonseca to five sets before getting beaten in the third round in Paris.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s not going to be easy. If anyone could do it, certainly it could be her,” Davenport said of Williams. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing kind of an unprecedented time with players and how they train now, being able to play better longer, play at a level that we never expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe always looks in incredible shape; and better shape than arguably when she left.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Williams’ big serve automatically gives her an advantage on grass, it’s a surface that also presents unique challenges because of the speed of play and low bounces.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrass is a tough surface to start on,” Davenport said. “It goes very quick, very low, very physical, not as much running as clay, but a lot of bending. … She wouldn\u2019t come back unless she knew she could play at such a high level. But we\u2019ve got to be a little graceful in the time we give her until she hits her feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams sisters were role models for Osaka<\/p>\n
Four-time major champion\u00a0Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will bring people to watch tennis,\u201d Osaka said Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it\u2019s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams recently posted\u00a0a video on Instagram showing herself training\u00a0on a hard court with her daughter: \u201cRumor has it\u2026I got a new trainer,\u201d Williams said in the post.<\/p>\n
Williams\u2019 second daughter was born in 2023.<\/p>\n
Venus Williams, who also had a stint at No. 1 in the rankings and is a five-time Wimbledon champion, is still playing occasionally at 45.<\/p>\n
McEnroe played doubles at 47<\/p>\n
McEnroe was 47 when he returned after 12 years of retirement and won a tour-level doubles tournament with partner Jonas Bjorkman.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysically I still had it for doubles, so she definitely could still have it for doubles, there\u2019s no question about that. She could win anything (in doubles),\u201d McEnroe said. \u201cThe singles is more difficult. … I\u2019m not really sure what the plan is. She hasn\u2019t called me to tell me the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff never got to play Williams<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,\u201d\u00a0defending French Open champion Coco Gauff\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Added fellow American player Madison Keys: \u201cSerena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let\u2019s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,\u201d Keys added. \u201cSo why not watch more?\u201d<\/p>\n
Women returned to Queen’s after more than 50 years<\/p>\n
A women\u2019s tournament rejoined the men\u2019s competition at Queen\u2019s last year after an absence of more than 50 years, meaning Williams will be making her debut at the historic grass-court tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now,\u201d said Queen\u2019s tournament director Laura Robson, “we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 With files from Sportsnet Staff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014\u00a0Serena Williams\u00a0is coming back to\u00a0professional tennis\u00a0at the age of 44, returning to the sport she dominated for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-709106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}