By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer
PARIS (AP) — Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis at the age of 44 after nearly four years away from the sport.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen’s Club grass-court tournament in London, the WTA Tour announced Monday.
Williams also made a post on social media with the caption, “Guess everybody heard the news.” The post had a video with her phone ringing, during which she said, “I got to change my number.”
The Queen’s Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”
A return on grass will raise speculation that Williams also plans to compete at Wimbledon, which starts June 28. She’s won seven singles titles at the All England Club.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “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 has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, Williams said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared that she was “evolving” away from tennis.
“Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” said Martina Navratilova, the previous oldest former No. 1 to launch a comeback, at 43 years, 10 months.
Williams, who has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis’ mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier — which is the first step toward a comeback.
Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.
“It will bring people to watch tennis,” Osaka said Thursday at the French Open. “I’m 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’s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.”
Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with her daughter: “Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in the post.
Williams’ second daughter was born in 2023.
Williams’ older sister, Venus, is still playing occasionally at 45.
Gauff never got to play Williams
“One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,” defending French Open champion Coco Gauff said in Paris. “It would be cool for this sport to have a legend back playing.”
Eighteen-year-old American player Iva Jovic also sounded thrilled.
“I have never seen Serena in real life,” Jovic said. “Obviously I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis, so it’s going to be incredible.”
Added fellow American player Madison Keys: “Serena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let’s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.
“I mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,” Keys added. “So why not watch more?”
Davenport says Williams practiced with current players
Former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, speaking at Roland Garros, said Williams’ goal “has always been to be the best.”
“Her mindset has always been to not settle for mediocrity. So I think we have to assume that she’s coming back because she feels she’s in a position where she can actually make an impact immediately,” Davenport said. “It’s naive to expect right off the bat she’s going to be winning tournaments. But I think she feels like she could work her way into it.”
Davenport said she knows that some current women’s players went down to Florida to practice with Williams recently.
“I don’t think anyone’s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,” Davenport said. “So I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don’t know if she’s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We’ll have to see how she can handle that physically.”
McEnroe made a doubles comeback at 47
John McEnroe said Williams isn’t “coming back not to win” and suggested Williams could play Wimbledon.
“She’s not getting any younger but she’s Serena Williams so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,” McEnroe said in Paris.
McEnroe was 47 when he returned after 12 years of retirement and won a tour-level doubles tournament with partner Jonas Bjorkman.
“Physically I still had it for doubles, so she definitely could still have it for doubles, there’s no question about that. She could win anything (in doubles),” McEnroe said. “The singles is more difficult, so we’ll have to wait and see what she decides to do, maybe she’s waiting to the (U.S.) Open. I’m not really sure what the plan is. She hasn’t called me to tell me the plan.”
Women returned to Queen’s after more than 50 years
A women’s tournament rejoined the men’s competition at Queen’s last year after an absence of more than 50 years, meaning Williams will be making her debut at the historic grass-court tournament.
“Women’s tennis made a historic return to the Queen’s Club last year, and now we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue,” Queen’s tournament director Laura Robson said. “It’s very exciting for the tournament and the fans.”
___
AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis