Age Is Just a Number: Serena Williams Targets Comeback at 44

 

Tennis great Serena Williams is set to come back to the court after stepping away from the sport four years ago. Aged 44, she will make a surprise return to professional tennis after a gap of four years.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has accepted a wild card entry for the women’s doubles in the event at the Queen’s Club, which will be hosted between June 6 and June 21. Notably, it will be her first appearance in professional tennis since the 2022 US Open.

She made an announcement on Monday that she would be entering the doubles category in the grass-court event with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko. Notably, the tournament will be played just eight days before the start of Wimbledon.

 

“ Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter. 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,” she said in her post.

 

Although Serena didn’t officially announce her retirement, she paused her professional career after suffering a defeat in the US Open third round by Ajla Tomljanovic in 2022. In the following years, the American welcomed the birth of her second child and also developed her own venture capital company.

During her announcement in 2022, she had said that she has desire to "evolve away" from the sport in her initial announcement.

 

Serena has won a total of 23 Grand Slam matches, which includes a tally of seven Australian Open titles, three French Open titles, seven Wimbledon titles and six US Open titles. Also, she has held the top spot for a total of 319 weeks, which includes a stint of 186 consecutive weeks. She has been a top player in the singles category, and her return to the court has also sparked talk around her playing in the Wimbledon, which is one of the major Grand Slams in the tennis world.