Serena Williams announces return to professional tennis at Queen’s Club Championships

Tennis icon Serena Williams is officially ending her four-year hiatus from nonrecreational tennis. Rumors of a imaginable instrumentality circulated globally implicit the past week, starring Williams to post a video crossed societal media connected Monday. The video, produced arsenic an advertisement for Nike, showed her answering a ringing telephone portion lasting connected a tennis court, accompanied by the text, “guess everybody heard the news” and “Good quality travels fast.”

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion confirmed that she volition marque her competitory return to the tribunal this month, starting successful the women’s doubles gully astatine the HSBC Championships astatine Queen’s Club successful London, a WTA 500 grass-court tourney scheduled for June 8-14. Williams, 44, has accepted a chaotic paper introduction into the doubles tract and is expected to spouse with 19-year-old Canadian rising prima Victoria Mboko, presently ranked No. 9.

Williams past played a nonrecreational lucifer since her tally astatine the 2022 U.S. Open, erstwhile she described her departure from the athletics arsenic “evolving distant from tennis” alternatively than formally retiring. In caller months, speculation astir a comeback intensified aft she re-entered the sport’s anti-doping investigating programme and was seen grooming connected court.

Because of her extended absence, Williams holds nary authoritative WTA singles oregon doubles ranking. During her career, Williams spent 319 weeks ranked No. 1 successful the world, captured 73 singles titles, won 14 Grand Slam doubles championships alongside her sister Venus Williams, and earned 4 Olympic golden medals, boasting an 858-156 beingness grounds successful singles and a 192-35 people successful doubles. Her 23 Grand Slam singles trophies basal arsenic an Open Era record, putting her conscionable 1 large triumph down Margaret Court and Novak Djokovic for the astir all-time tennis championships.

In a statement released by tourney organizers, Williams said, “Queen’s Club feels similar the cleanable spot to statesman this adjacent chapter. Grass has fixed maine immoderate of the astir meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to beryllium backmost competing connected 1 of the sport’s astir iconic stages.”

The WTA welcomed the announcement, noting that Williams’ comeback adds different section to 1 of the astir accomplished careers successful tennis history. WTA Tournament Director Laura Robson noted that Queen’s Club lone precocious introduced women’s tennis backmost to its historical venue past year, sharing: “Serena Williams is 1 of the top athletes the satellite has ever seen, and we’re delighted that she volition beryllium making her instrumentality to tennis astatine the LTA’s HSBC Championships. Women’s tennis made a historical instrumentality to the Queen’s Club past year, and present we person an icon of the crippled stepping backmost connected to tribunal astatine this prestigious venue — it’s precise breathtaking for the tourney and the fans.”

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