Serena Williams confirms shock tennis comeback at 44 for Queen's Club Championships

Serena Williams has confirmed her return to competitive tennis at the age of 44, nearly four years after her last professional match, with the 23-time Grand Slam champion set to compete at the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club in London.

Williams has accepted a doubles wildcard for the grass-court tournament, which begins on June 8, and will partner Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko. The appearance is expected to be her first competitive outing since the 2022 US Open and could serve as preparation for a possible return at Wimbledon later this month.

The announcement was made on Monday by Queen's Club, which posted on social media: "The Queen returns! Serena Williams is back and set for doubles at the HSBC Championships."

Williams also shared a video on social media featuring herself on a tennis court dressed in white, while her



phone buzzed repeatedly with notifications. Accompanied by the caption "Good news travels fast," the video ended with the words: "Guess everybody heard the news."

In a statement released by the tournament, Williams explained why she had chosen Queen's Club for her return.

"Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," 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."

Williams has not played a competitive match since her run at the 2022 US Open, where she reached the third round. Ahead of that tournament, she wrote in an essay for Vogue that she was "evolving away from tennis" and towards other priorities in her life, though she never formally used the word retirement.