Serena Williams is returning to pro tennis at age 44 after nearly 4 years away from the sport

PARIS (AP) — Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis at age 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, the WTA Tour announced Monday,

The Queen’s Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”

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 after retirement, at 43 years, 10 months.

“To many of the younger players, they never had the opportunity to play her; some may have never watched her on television so this will be a new and exciting experience,” Navratilova said.

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 winner 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. “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.”

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.

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.

When it was revealed last year that Williams had signed up to return to the drug-testing pool, she wrote on social media: “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”

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.”

American player, Iva Jovic, 18, also sounded thrilled.

“I think it’s amazing. It’s really cool,” she said. “I have never seen Serena in real life. Obviously I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis, so it’s going to be incredible.”

Like Osaka, she thinks it will boost tennis in general.

“It’s going to make a lot of headlines and it’s something that people are going to talk about,” Jovic said.

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?”

WTA chair Valerie Camillo said that “Serena is one of the greatest athletes of all-time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court.

“Her return is an expression of her passion for competition and I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players,” Camillo added. “Serena is not just a great champion. She’s a successful entrepreneur, a powerful advocate for the issues that matter – and one of the most iconic women in the world. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the WTA Tour at this hugely exciting moment for women’s tennis.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press