Expectations are growing that Serena Williams, the greatest women’s tennis player of all-time, will return to the court this year.
The 44-year-old has not played a competitive match since her third-round US Open loss to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in September 2022, after which she officially lodged her retirement with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
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But it was her decision to re-enter the ITIA’s drug testing pool by October 2025 – if not earlier – that sent tongues wagging across tennis.
Players must be in the drug testing pool for at least six months before returning and when in the pool, they have to provide their daily whereabouts for random drug testing and can receive 6am check-ins.
As there is no reason for a retired player to want to do this, it was assumed Williams was seeking a return to the sport, and now Bounces’ Ben Rothenberg is reporting that’s exactly the case.
“This thing is happening, y’all,” he tweeted.
After the initial reports of her re-entering the drug testing pool Williams posted on social media: “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-”.
But she was much less firm in her denial when speaking on American breakfast TV overnight.
“You know I have to ask: Are you returning to professional tennis?” she was asked by Today Show host Savannah Guthrie.
“I mean, really? Are you asking this on The Today Show?” Williams replied.
“Yes I am. They’d kill me if I didn’t – tennis nation, all your fans,” Guthrie said.
Williams eventually answered: “I’m just having fun and enjoying my life right now.
“That’s not a yes or a no. I don’t know. I’m just going to see what happens.”
She also cheekily quipped, “did I reenter (the drug testing pool)? I don’t know if I was out”, which she definitely was.
On Thursday night, Rothenberg reported Williams had been spotted training with former ATP player Jesse Levine in Florida.
Depending on when she re-entered the testing pool Williams could be eligible to play as early as next month, when the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments are held.
And while it has been suggested she could return for the US Open Mixed Doubles tournament to partner her sister Venus, which is still a grand slam event though a shorter format, Rothenberg wrote: “If she were only targeting August [the US Open], her training wouldn’t be in such full flow in January.”
Venus Williams continues to be active on the WTA Tour, suffering a thrilling three-set loss to Olga Danilovic in the opening round of the Australian Open.
And according to the UK Telegraph’s Simon Briggs, part of Serena’s reasoning for returning is she believes she can actually contend for titles.
“The word around the grounds in Melbourne is that Serena fancies her chances against the current generation of pros,” Briggs wrote earlier this week.
“During September’s US Open, she is rumoured to have said exactly that in a series of messages to some of her old peers and rivals, who can now be found manning – or rather womanning – the microphones in the commentary booths.
“So what about singles at the French Open? Sources suggest that Serena is weighing this up very seriously.”
Meanwhile US tennis great Jim Courier predicted a comeback was likely late last week.
“Serena denied she’s coming back,” Courier said, “but I think unless she gets injured there is no doubt she’s going to play somewhere at some point.
“Whether that’s the mixed doubles at the US Open, whether that’s doubles with her sister somewhere, whether it’s singles, only she knows.
“But there’s no other way to interpret that.”
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