Serena Williams Returns to Tennis at 44
Serena Williams, aged 44, has announced her return to professional tennis, marking her first competitive appearance since 2022. The tennis legend emphasized that her comeback is motivated by enjoyment rather than the pursuit of victories, having already secured 23 grand slam singles titles during her illustrious career.
Williams is set to compete in doubles alongside Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club this week. Following this, she has committed to playing doubles in Berlin, though her plans beyond these events remain undecided. With Wimbledon wildcard meetings approaching, Williams was asked about a potential singles return. She responded,
“I can’t say yeah, I can’t say no. Right now, no.”
On her reasons for returning to elite competition after a lengthy hiatus, Williams, who gave birth to daughters in 2017 and 2023, explained,
“I don’t need to win. I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives, so for me it’s not important to me. It’s important that I keep reminding myself of that because I don’t have anything to prove, I don’t have anything to lose and everything here is just a gain.
This whole journey is like I’m putting no pressure on myself. It’s really about my kids getting to see me play. I mean, Olympia [aged eight] is a little bit older, Adira [aged two] is very young, but it’s also still moments like that.”
Williams further remarked,
An athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting, so there’s a little bit of that too. I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles. We’ll see if I get there. And if not … that’s not my journey right now. It’s summer, the kids aren’t in school, so it’s a perfect time to get out there, have fun and see what happens.”
Partnership with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club
Williams practiced with 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, currently ranked world No 9 in singles, on Sunday morning ahead of their first-round doubles match against the third seeds, Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe. The match is scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday.
Williams shared her reasons for choosing Mboko as her doubles partner, stating,
“I remember seeing her play in Montreal [where Mboko won the 2025 Canadian Open]. I was impressed with her attitude, and what I liked the most about her was that the next time she played she still kept winning. Sometimes you win one and then have a little bit of a low, which is normal, and that’s OK as well. But I loved how she had this drive.”
The partnership holds special significance for Mboko, who was only 10 years old when Williams secured her last grand slam title. The Canadian reflected,
“Growing up, Serena has always been my idol. It was really hard not to like her because she won every tournament she played. So she was just an easy idol for me.
Seeing someone on TV versus actually talking to them in person and having conversations, of course, it’s very different. I think she’s really nice and she’s very personable, very relatable. And I think she’s really funny. So I’ve found a lot of comfort with her.”
Emma Raducanu Reflects on Williams’ Impact
Emma Raducanu, then the reigning US Open champion, was among the last players to face Williams on court, meeting her in the first round of the 2022 Cincinnati Open, which was one of the final tournaments of Williams’ previous career phase. Raducanu recalled,
“I remember that match. I was super nervous before playing her because it was just announced that she was stopping.
It’s really great to see her back. I think it’s an amazing inspiration and for all of us to see her around is a really cool thing. She’s the greatest female tennis player of all time. It’s just amazing to have her part of the tour again.”
Raducanu has faced numerous physical challenges in recent years, including a post-viral illness that limited her to only her second match since mid-March. After a defeat that brought her to tears during the post-match press conference, she was in good spirits in West London ahead of her return to competition. Reflecting on her French Open experience, Raducanu said,
“It was a tough match for me. I think afterwards I found the next day pretty tough and I knew the best thing for me to do was to try and get back on the court straight away to just nip it in the bud.
I got practising pretty soon after and I took a long time away from competing. It did teach me a few things that I can hopefully take into the grass season. Of course, I haven’t had so many matches leading up to it. But I’ve been doing what I can day to day. That’s all I can really ask of myself and keep going.”
