{"id":436630,"date":"2026-01-29T10:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/436630\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:06:09","slug":"savannah-guthrie-presses-serena-williams-about-tennis-return-in-awkward-today-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/436630\/","title":{"rendered":"Savannah Guthrie presses Serena Williams about tennis return in awkward \u201cToday\u201d interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Savannah Guthrie appeared to recognize she had pushed too far during a live interview with Serena Williams on NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show<\/a> repeatedly pressing the retired tennis star about a potential return to the sport despite Williams\u2019 clear reluctance to engage, Page Six reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Guthrie, 54, raised the topic mid-interview Wednesday, noting that Williams, 44, had re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency drug testing pool in October 2025 \u2014 a move some interpret as a signal of a possible comeback. Guthrie said she \u201chad to ask\u201d whether Williams planned to return to professional tennis.<\/p>\n

Williams immediately pushed back, reacting with disbelief. <\/p>\n

\u201cReally? Are you asking me that on the \u2018Today\u2019 show? Oh, my gosh. Really?\u201d she said, as laughter broke out on set.<\/p>\n

When Guthrie attempted to clarify whether the response meant \u201cno,\u201d Williams deflected again, pointing out the distraction and emphasizing that she is currently focused on enjoying her life. She declined to give a definitive answer, saying she would \u201cjust see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guthrie continued to frame Williams\u2019 comments as a \u201cmaybe,\u201d prompting the tennis champion to respond more firmly, Page Six noted. Williams noted that she is raising two children and described herself as a full-time stay-at-home mom, adding that she recently listed her occupation as \u201chousewife\u201d on a form.<\/p>\n

The exchange grew increasingly awkward as Guthrie returned to Williams\u2019 decision to re-enter the drug testing pool. Williams replied that she did not know whether she had ever officially left it and said she could not discuss the subject further.<\/p>\n

Still, Guthrie pressed on, suggesting the interview was a chance to put speculation \u201cto bed.\u201d Williams responded with humor, saying she wanted to go to bed instead because it was early.<\/p>\n

As the interview wrapped, Guthrie appeared aware of the tension, repeatedly insisting that Williams was not upset and directly asking, \u201cyou\u2019re not mad at me?\u201d Williams laughed, shook her head, and later called Guthrie \u201cfunny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams officially announced her retirement from tennis in a 2022 essay for Vogue<\/a>, explaining that she chose to prioritize family over extending her athletic r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Savannah Guthrie appeared to recognize she had pushed too far during a live interview with Serena Williams on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":["post-436630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}