The 44-year-old, a 23-time grand slam singles champion, has been granted a wild card for the Queen’s Club event, marking her first competitive appearance since her emotional farewell at the 2022 US Open. <\/p>\n
Williams stated her decision to pick up a racket again was simply a case of “Why not?”, and despite Mboko’s observation that her partner is “hitting great”, the American insists she is not focused on any outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need to win,\u201d said the tennis legend. \u201cI\u2019ve won more than most people have in their whole lives, so it\u2019s not that important to me, and it\u2019s important that I keep reminding myself of that, because I don\u2019t have anything to prove.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams never directly used the word retirement, but Monday\u2019s comeback confirmation still came as a shock after the mother-of-two had, to use her preferred terminology at the time, made the decision to \u201cevolve away\u201d from tennis.<\/p>\n
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who spent 319 weeks as the WTA number one at the peak of her career, and claimed 39 major titles, has not exactly ruled out a return to singles, but suggested it was not imminent (Getty)<\/p>\n
Speaking after she and Mboko trained on the Queen\u2019s Club grass, Williams said: \u201cThis whole journey is like, I\u2019m putting no pressure on myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me right now, it\u2019s really just about so many elements. It\u2019s really about my kids getting to see me play. Olympia<\/a> is a little bit older, Adira is very young.<\/p>\n \u201cAn athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to do that, possibly one last time, is kind of cool and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who spent 319 weeks as the WTA<\/a> number one at the peak of her career, and claimed 39 major titles, has not exactly ruled out a return to singles, but suggested it was not imminent.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say no right now,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles, and we will see if I get there, and if not\u2026 that\u2019s not my journey right now.\u201d<\/p>\n