{"id":711587,"date":"2026-06-03T05:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T05:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711587\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T05:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T05:21:14","slug":"venus-williams-has-surprising-reaction-to-serena-williams-tennis-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711587\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus Williams Has Surprising Reaction to Serena Williams\u2019 Tennis Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams<\/a> told us this could happen.<\/p>\n

In August 2022, Williams covered Vogue. In her accompanying essay<\/a>, she wrote, \u201cI have never liked the word\u00a0retirement.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t feel like a modern word to me. I\u2019ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I\u2019m up to is\u00a0evolution.\u00a0I\u2019m here to tell you that I\u2019m evolving away from tennis<\/a>, toward other things that are important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Williams last played professional tennis in the US Open<\/a> in September 2022 \u2014\u00a0bowing out in the Round of 32 in singles, while she and Venus Williams<\/a> lost in the Round of 64 in doubles. Nearly four years later, Williams, 44, has evolved back into a professional tennis player.<\/p>\n

She announced<\/a> Monday that she will return for the HSBC Championships at Queen\u2019s Club in London next week.<\/p>\n

\"NEW<\/p>\n

NEW YORK, USA, September 01: Serena Williams and Venus Williams of the United States during their Women\u2019s Doubles match on Arthur Ashe Stadium against Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic during the US Open Tennis Championship 2022 at the USTA National Tennis Centre on September 1st 2022 in Flushing, Queens, New York City. (Photo by Tim Clayton\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cQueen\u2019s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,\u201d Williams said in an announcement from the tournament, per ESPN<\/a>. \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

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Venus Williams, an all-time great in her own right, had a surprising reaction to her sister\u2019s triumphant comeback on TNT\u2019s broadcast from Roland-Garros on Tuesday. When asked if Serena came to her months ago to say she\u2019d gotten the itch again, Venus gave a fascinating glimpse into what actually happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it didn\u2019t happen like that,\u201d Venus said. \u201cI think it was more me bullying her to come \u2014\u00a0no, not at all. Not at all. I think she hits every now and then. I never see her on the court that often, so I don\u2019t know when she\u2019s been practicing, honestly. I\u2019m honest. I don\u2019t know how her form is.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cBut what I will tell you is that she could not hit for four months, and I\u2019ll be hitting, and she\u2019ll come out and grab a racket and running shoes and just hit a ton out of the ball without ever hitting. It\u2019s incredible. So the quality of her stroke is, obviously, there. She\u2019s, I think, a little bit of a natural. She has a pretty good record. She knows what she\u2019s doing. She\u2019s very tenacious, so I\u2019m not worried about how she\u2019s gonna play, even though I really haven\u2019t seen her play. It\u2019s so crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serena Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion<\/a> \u2014 the most of any woman in the Open Era \u2014\u00a0and she and Venus won 14 Grand Slam titles together in doubles. Venus also has seven Grand Slam singles titles<\/a> to her name.<\/p>\n

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Last August, Venus Williams became the first 45-year-old to compete at the US Open since 1981, per ESPN<\/a>, and she has continued playing<\/a> WTA events in doubles and singles throughout 2026.<\/p>\n

At Queen\u2019s Club, Serena Williams will compete as a wild card in doubles<\/a> with 19-year-old Canadian phenom Victoria Mboko. There has been speculation<\/a> that Queen\u2019s Club is a tune-up for Wimbledon, but her only confirmed appearance at this point is at the HSBC Championships.<\/p>\n

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