SERENA WILLIAMS DENIES TENNIS COMEBACK DESPITE DRUG-TESTING REGISTRATION

By: Gyang Dakwo

Serena Williams has shut down rumours that she is planning a return to professional tennis, despite recently registering with the sport’s drug-testing body, the International Tennis Integrity Agency.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has not competed since she said goodbye to the game at the 2022 US Open.

The 44-year-old said at the time that she did not want to use the word retiring and instead explained that she was evolving away from tennis. However, on Tuesday, Williams took to social media to make her position clear. She wrote that she is not coming back and called the rumours a wildfire.

Athletes who want to return to competition must provide information about their time and locations for testing and must complete six months of drug-testing before they are allowed to play again.

Williams’ older sister, Venus Williams, returned to the tour in July at the age of 45 after almost two years away, and she also never formally announced her retirement.

At the US Open, Venus became the oldest player to compete in a Grand Slam singles event since 1981. Venus, a seven-time major singles champion, has previously said she wants Serena to join her back on tour. The sisters won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together during their careers.

Serena Williams, who played her first professional match in 1995, said that the main reason she initially stepped away from tennis three years ago was to focus on having a second child. She welcomed her daughter Adira River Ohanian in August 2023, nearly six years after giving birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, with her husband Alexis Ohanian.

Williams won the 2017 Australian Open while in the early stages of her pregnancy with Olympia, bringing her just one Grand Slam singles title behind Margaret Court’s record.

Statistically, she is considered the greatest tennis player of her era, having played 1,011 matches on the WTA Tour and faced opponents born from 1966 to 2003 over the course of her long career.