Serena Williams "evolved away" from tennis after a farewell appearance at the 2022 US Open. Nearly four years later, at the age of 44, the American icon is set to return.
Williams announced Monday that she will step back into competition at The Queen's Club in London, where she has accepted a doubles wild card. The grass-court WTA 500 event will be played from June 8 to June 14.
"Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said. "Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
Williams added to the buzz with a social media post captioned "Good news travels fast," also writing, "Guess everybody heard the news." She followed that with another post Tuesday, sharing some artistic snaps of herself in tennis gear.
Despite her absence from competitive tennis, Williams has shared photos and videos of herself on the court in recent years—usually alongside daughters Olympia and Adira. After giving birth to Adira during the 2023 US Open, Williams returned to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as a fan during the 2024 US Open.
Williams is a six-time US Open singles champion and a two-time New York doubles champ with her sister, Venus Williams. Venus, 45, remains active and most recently competed in Madrid. She was set to play in the Roland Garros women's doubles event with Hailey Baptiste, but the pair was forced to withdraw when Baptiste suffered a leg injury.
Serena has nothing left to prove after winning a combined 39 Grand Slam singles crowns and four Olympic gold medals—across singles, doubles and mixed doubles—in her legendary career. But with the start of her next chapter, she may not be finished writing her name in the history books.
