Serena Williams has made her return to professional tennis at the age of 44, focusing on doubles at Queen's Club this week. The 23-time grand slam singles champion is partnering with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko in her first competitive outing since stepping away from the sport in 2022.
Williams, who gave birth to daughters in 2017 and 2023, said her motivation is about "just having fun" and that winning is "not important" to her anymore. "I don't need to win. I've won more than most people have in their whole lives, so for me it's not important," she stated. "I don't have anything to prove, I don't have anything to lose and everything here is just a gain."
The American legend emphasized that her return is about her children seeing her play. "My kids getting to see me play ... Olympia [aged eight] is a little bit older, Adira [aged two] is very young, but it's also still moments like that," she added.
While Williams has committed to playing doubles in Berlin after Queen's, her future beyond that remains uncertain. When asked about a potential singles return, she said: "I can't say yeah, I can't say no. Right now, no." She admitted she would "probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles. We'll see if I get there."
Williams and Mboko practiced together on Sunday ahead of their first-round doubles match against third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe, expected to take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Williams revealed she selected Mboko because the teenager "reminded me a lot of myself."
Mboko, who was only 10 when Williams won her last grand slam, expressed her excitement: "Growing up, Serena has always been my idol ... She's really nice and very personable, very relatable. And I think she's really funny."
Emma Raducanu, one of the last players to face Williams on court, recalled their 2022 Cincinnati Open match. "It's really great to see her back. I think it's an amazing inspiration ... She's the greatest female tennis player of all time," Raducanu said. Raducanu herself has been dealing with physical setbacks and recently exited the French Open in the first round.
Williams concluded: "An athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting."
