After the Knicks\u2019 first NBA championship in more than 50 years<\/a>, Taylor Swift\u2019s wedding at Madison Square Garden<\/a> and the World Cup<\/a> final to be played just across the Hudson River, it looks like another circus is coming to town.<\/p>\n To the Flushing Meadows section of Queens, to be precise.<\/p>\n All indications point to the 44-year-old Williams playing the U.S. Open next month for the first time in four years.<\/p>\n \u201cHer intention is to keep playing; the U.S. Open as well,\u201d Rennae Stubbs<\/a>, one of Williams\u2019 coaches, said at Wimbledon<\/a> on Tuesday \u2014 a week after Williams lost in her first singles match since 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n Williams injured her right knee midway through a three-set loss to Maya Joint at the All England Club and withdrew from a doubles match with older sister Venus<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n Williams shared an Instagram update<\/a> over the weekend that included images of four syringes filled with fluid drained from her knee.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as physically she can go \u2014 and I\u2019m hoping in a few weeks that\u2019s the case \u2014 to get her back on the court and hitting balls,\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n Main draw singles play at the U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I can say,\u201d Serena said after her loss, \u201cis stay tuned to a city near you.\u201d<\/p>\n James Blake, the Yonkers, New York, native who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals twice, knows just what Williams will bring to the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be huge and it\u2019s deserved because she\u2019s the greatest of all time on the women\u2019s side \u2014 and an American,\u201d Blake said of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. \u201cShe\u2019s an idol for so many young girls.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake is now the Miami Open tournament director and a tennis commentator for ESPN.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s been through this for the last 20 years so she knows what a circus it will be and she\u2019s willing to put herself through that,\u201d Blake told The Associated Press. \u201cThat shows how much she loves the game and she loves the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n Added doubles great Bob Bryan<\/a>: \u201cSerena is a legend. Everyone wants to see her on the court again. It\u2019s a great story.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams practiced at Bryan\u2019s club in Florida earlier this year.<\/p>\n \u201cShe wasn\u2019t giving away too much information but she was getting 12 rackets strung. \u2026 So we knew she was serious,\u201d Bryan said. \u201cHopefully she gets healthy and can make a run this summer. She\u2019s going to win again for sure. She\u2019s a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams played only two doubles matches \u2014 but no singles \u2014 before Wimbledon. Expect her to play more singles before the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n If she desires, Williams should have no problem obtaining wild-card invitations from tournament organizers at U.S. Open warmups in Toronto and Cincinnati, Ohio.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that for her, trying to play certainly something before the U.S. Open will be something she would like to do,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cBut at the same time it\u2019s going to depend on how physically she\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n In Williams\u2019 social media post about her injury, she said \u201cthe good news is my knee shouldn\u2019t swell or collect that much fluid again.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it was more of a factor against Joint than many people thought, according to Stubbs.<\/p>\n \u201cShe did whisper to me, \u2018I would have won if I had a good knee,\u2019\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cLeading up to the tournament, she was playing practice sets (and) beating players that are still in the tournament. I won\u2019t mention which ones because I don\u2019t want to embarrass them but she was playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being away for so long, Williams still hit serves beyond 120 mph and showed off her same old heavy groundstrokes, which landed within inches of the baseline.<\/p>\n The only real issue was her movement.<\/p>\n \u201cConsidering how bad the knee was it\u2019s pretty miraculous really that she went as long as she did in the match,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cShe was rubbing her legs every change of end. \u2026 So I could see that there was something going on that was a little unusual for her.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the fact that she got through, walked off the court and nobody even really knew was pretty miraculous. And it also shows how high her pain tolerance is.\u201d<\/p>\n After the grass of Wimbledon, the hard courts of the U.S. Open \u2014 which she has won six times in singles \u2014 could be more favorable for Williams.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody saw her standard was still pretty good and so once she gets on the hard courts she\u2019s going to have better stability,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cWe all know how well she plays on hard courts so it\u2019s just a matter of getting her body back in into the shape she wants.\u201d<\/p>\n Added retired player Caroline Wozniacki, one of Williams\u2019 best friends: \u201cI thought she moved well already on the grass. \u2026 She didn\u2019t win the more important points in the match, but she did a good job. I would expect her to just keep doing better as this comeback progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n Match toughness<\/p>\n Williams was broken only once as she lost the opening set to Joint. Then she won the second in a tiebreaker and didn\u2019t really fade away until midway through the third.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure just playing a few matches will get her more precise,\u201d Blake said. \u201cShe missed one easy ball and then things unraveled a little bit. When she\u2019s at her best that turns into one point instead of a game or two games or three games. She\u2019ll get back to being match-tough.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she plays three or four matches before the U.S. Open,\u201d Blake added, \u201cit will be \u2014 not an entirely different player \u2014 but quite an improvement by the U.S. Open.\u201d<\/p>\n AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Serena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/APTOPIX_Germany_Berlin_Tennis_Open_13721.jpg\")
Serena Williams of the U.S. tosses the ball in the air to serve as she and Czech Republic\u2019s Karolina Muchova play during their round of 16 doubles match against New Zealand\u2019s Erin Routliffe and Mexico\u2019s Giuliana Olmo during the WTA 500 Berlin Open tennis tournament at Steffi Graf Stadium, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)
\n\u2018It will be huge\u2019<\/p>\n![\"Serena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis__3617_de34f5.jpg\")
Serena Williams\u2019 husband Alexis Ohanian and their daughters Olympia and Adira watch the first round women\u2019s singles match between Serena Williams of the United States and Maya Joint of Australia, at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Maja Smiejkowska)
\nWarmup tournaments<\/p>\n![\"Serena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/APTOPIX_Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis_65214_5a0677.jpg\")
Serena Williams of the United States plays a backhand against Maya Joint of Australia in their first round women\u2019s singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Maja Smiejkowska)
\nKnee issue<\/p>\n![\"Serena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/APTOPIX_Britain_Wimbledon_Tennis__3229_573c67.jpg\")
Serena Williams of the United States sits during a changeover in her first round women\u2019s singles match against Maya Joint of Australia, at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Maja Smiejkowska)
\nHard courts<\/p>\n