The 23-time Grand Slam champion, 44, has been the subject of comeback speculation in recent months, and now her training partner is adding fuel to the rumors.<\/p>\n
Alycia Parks<\/a>, a professional tennis player currently on the ATP Tour, spoke with the Tennis Channel<\/a> on Thursday, March 19 about recently sparring with Williams, revealing that they hit together multiple times a week.<\/p>\n Alycia Parks plays in the 2026 Miami Open “I did text her when I was in the Middle East and I was like, ‘Hey, can you practice when I come back to the States?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go,’ ” Parks said of Williams, who has served as a mentor to the 25-year-old athlete on tour.<\/p>\n “So we got in a few sessions and yeah, she’s been helping me. When I’m home, I would say probably three times a week,” Parks added.<\/p>\n Parks, who has won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, also shared an update on Williams’ game with the Tennis Channel.<\/p>\n Take PEOPLE with you!\u00a0Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more \u2014 right to your mailbox.<\/p>\n (L-R) Serena Williams and Alycia Parks at the 2025 US Open “She’s hitting good,” she said of the mom of two<\/a>, who shares\u00a0daughters Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.<\/a>, 8, and \u00a0Adira River Ohanian<\/a>, 2, with her husband Alexis Ohanian<\/a>. “Yeah, she’s definitely fit. She looks great and she’s hitting the ball amazing,” added Parks.<\/p>\n As for a potential comeback by Williams, who hasn’t played in a professional match since the 2022 US Open, Parks played coy.<\/p>\n “I don’t know if she’s coming back, I don’t know when she’s coming back,” she made clear. “We just go to practice, we don’t really talk too much about her coming back. It’s just like fun stuff.”<\/p>\n Serena Williams plays at the 2022 US Open In 2022, Williams played her final competitive match at the US Open, but was very careful about saying she was “not retired” at the time. “The chances of me returning are very high,” she told\u00a0The San Francisco Standard<\/a>\u00a0that year. “You can come to my house and [see], I have a court.”<\/p>\n In an August 2022 essay for\u00a0Vogue<\/a>,\u00a0Williams said she “never liked the word retirement” and prefers to see herself as in a “transition” away from the sport. “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’m up to is evolution,” she wrote.<\/p>\n In December 2025, Williams shut down rumors of a comeback<\/a> after\u00a0The Athletic<\/a>\u00a0reported that she\u00a0has requested to reenter<\/a>\u00a0the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA)’s International Registered Testing Pool, a requirement for active players for drug testing.<\/p>\n “Omg yall I\u2019m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-,” the tennis star wrote in a\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0on X on Tuesday, Dec. 2 after fans got excited about a potential return.<\/p>\n![\"Alycia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1e0c2e8e38eab69441c6abc4c64f35cc.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Al Bello\/Getty<\/p>\n![\"(L-R)](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e781dbc9017f7f2e56efa9b4585aa5ad.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Alycia Parks\/Instagram<\/p>\n![\"Serena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ee31b4713c275a8d3534020852c8975d.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Tim Clayton\/Corbis via Getty<\/p>\n