{"id":131425,"date":"2026-06-01T14:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/serena-williams-is-coming-back-to-tennis-at-44-returning-to-the-sport-she-dominated-for-decades\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T17:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:28:25","slug":"serena-williams-is-coming-back-to-tennis-at-44-returning-to-the-sport-she-dominated-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/serena-williams-is-coming-back-to-tennis-at-44-returning-to-the-sport-she-dominated-for-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams is coming back to tennis at 44, returning to the sport she dominated for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE – Serena Williams motions a heart to fans during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II, file)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II, file)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PARIS (AP) \u2014 Serena Williams<\/a> is coming back to professional tennis<\/a> at the age of 44, returning to the sport she dominated for two decades before famously \u201cevolving\u201d away from the daily grind of competition.<\/p>\n

First up for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is the doubles tournament at Queen\u2019s Club. But Wimbledon and the U.S. Open could be next.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like she\u2019s trying to work her way up maybe to the U.S. Open, and those fans would be so ready to see her back on a singles court there,\u201d former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said at the French Open<\/a> after the WTA Tour announced Monday that Williams has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles at next week\u2019s grass-court tournament in London.<\/p>\n

Williams won seven Wimbledon titles and six at the U.S. Open before stepping away from the game in 2022. In doubles, she won six titles at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open \u2014 all with her older sister Venus Williams.<\/p>\n

John McEnroe suggested Williams could compete in singles at Wimbledon, which starts June 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not getting any younger but she\u2019s Serena Williams so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,\u201d McEnroe said in Paris.<\/p>\n

The Queen\u2019s Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play \u201cwith a partner to be announced in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQueen\u2019s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,\u201d Williams said in a statement. \u201cGrass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career and I\u2019m excited to be back competing on one of the sport\u2019s most iconic stages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open<\/a>. At the time, Williams said she didn\u2019t want to use the word \u201cretiring\u201d and instead declared that she was \u201cevolving\u201d away from tennis.<\/p>\n

Davenport said some current women\u2019s players went down to Florida to practice with Williams recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,\u201d Davenport said. \u201cSo I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don\u2019t know if she\u2019s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We\u2019ll have to see how she can handle that physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams, who has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles overall in her storied career, became eligible to compete in February<\/a> after re-registering with tennis\u2019 mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier \u2014 which is the first step toward a comeback.<\/p>\n

Djokovic is competitive at 39<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davenport noted how Novak Djokovic is still competitive at 39<\/a> \u2014 having recently pushed 19-year-old Joao Fonseca to five sets before getting beaten in the third round in Paris.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not going to be easy. If anyone could do it, certainly it could be her,” Davenport said of Williams. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing kind of an unprecedented time with players and how they train now, being able to play better longer, play at a level that we never expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe always looks in incredible shape; and better shape than arguably when she left.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Williams’ big serve automatically gives her an advantage on grass, it’s a surface that also presents unique challenges because of the speed of play and low bounces.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrass is a tough surface to start on,” Davenport said. “It goes very quick, very low, very physical, not as much running as clay, but a lot of bending. … She wouldn\u2019t come back unless she knew she could play at such a high level. But we\u2019ve got to be a little graceful in the time we give her until she hits her feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams sisters were role models for Osaka<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka<\/a>, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will bring people to watch tennis,\u201d Osaka said Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it\u2019s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training<\/a> on a hard court with her daughter: \u201cRumor has it\u2026I got a new trainer,\u201d Williams said in the post.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 second daughter was born in 2023.<\/p>\n

Venus Williams, who also had a stint at No. 1 in the rankings and is a five-time Wimbledon champion, is still playing occasionally at 45.<\/p>\n

McEnroe played doubles at 47<\/strong><\/p>\n

McEnroe was 47 when he returned after 12 years of retirement and won a tour-level doubles tournament with partner Jonas Bjorkman.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically I still had it for doubles, so she definitely could still have it for doubles, there\u2019s no question about that. She could win anything (in doubles),\u201d McEnroe said. \u201cThe singles is more difficult. … I\u2019m not really sure what the plan is. She hasn\u2019t called me to tell me the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gauff never got to play Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,\u201d defending French Open champion Coco Gauff<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Eighteen-year-old American player Iva Jovic was also thrilled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never seen Serena in real life,” Jovic said. “Obviously I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added fellow American player Madison Keys: \u201cSerena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let\u2019s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,\u201d Keys added. \u201cSo why not watch more?\u201d<\/p>\n

Women returned to Queen’s after more than 50 years<\/strong><\/p>\n

A women\u2019s tournament rejoined the men\u2019s competition at Queen\u2019s last year after an absence of more than 50 years, meaning Williams will be making her debut at the historic grass-court tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s tennis made a historic return to the Queen\u2019s Club last year,” Queen\u2019s tournament director Laura Robson said, “and now we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue.”<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n

\"FILE
FILE – Serena Williams, of the United States, returns a shot to Anett Kontaveit, of Estonia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Aug. 31, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo\/John Minchillo, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/John Minchillo, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Serena
Serena Williams arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Costume Art" exhibition on Monday, May 4, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/span>(Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – Serena Williams, of the United States, prepares to serve against Anett Kontaveit, of Estonia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Aug. 31, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Seth Wenig, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – United States Serena Williams plays a return to Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu during their second round match on day four of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris on June 2, 2021. (AP Photo\/Thibault Camus, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Thibault Camus, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Serena Williams motions a heart to fans during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sept. 2, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II, file)(AP Photo\/Frank Franklin II, file) PARIS (AP) \u2014 Serena Williams is coming back to professional tennis at the age of 44, returning to the sport she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131457,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131425\/revisions\/131457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131425"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}