Summary:
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Serena Williams accepts wild card for Queen’s Club doubles tournament in London comeback.
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Martina Navratilova praises Williams, oldest former world No. 1, for pushing boundaries and returning to tennis.
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Williams re-enters testing pool after denying comeback rumors, excited to compete on grass at iconic stage.
Serena Williams is coming back.
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 — marking her first competitive appearance since she bid farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.
The WTA confirmed Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”
Williams, now 44, is the oldest former world No. 1 to mount a comeback of this kind. Martina Navratilova, the previous record holder for oldest former No. 1 to return after retirement, did so at 43 years and 10 months. “Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” Navratilova said.
The return has been months in the making. Williams re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s testing pool in October 2025, a required step before any competitive return — though she initially played down speculation. When rumors surfaced in December, Williams posted on X: “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.” She has since changed course.
Williams teased the announcement Monday morning with a social media video from longtime sponsor Nike, in which she is seen on a tennis court walking over to her buzzing phone as text reading “Guess everybody heard the news” appears on screen.
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In a statement, Williams said: “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.”
The timing is significant. Williams has won the French Open three times and Wimbledon seven times, making the grass-court swing a natural entry point for her return.
Fellow American Madison Keys summed up the sentiment across the tennis world: “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. So why not watch more?”
Williams has won 73 career singles titles, four Olympic gold medals, 14 major doubles titles alongside sister Venus, and is the only player to achieve a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. She has spent 319 weeks ranked No. 1 and has earned over $94 million in prize money — believed to be the most of any female athlete in history.
Williams welcomed her second child, a daughter named Adira, in August 2023 with husband Alexis Ohanian.
No singles matches have been announced at this time.
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