Serena Williams took to social media on Tuesday, December 2 to address the rumors that she’s making a tennis comeback after three years away from the sport.
Williams on the Word ‘Retirement’
In October 2022, Williams said she was “not retired” and that “the chances of me returning are very high,” The San Francisco Standard reported at the time. “You can come to my house and [see], I have a court.”
Before competing in the US Open in August 2022, Williams wrote an essay for Vogue where she explained that she “never liked the word retirement” while announcing her plan to step away from her nearly 27-year-long tennis career.
She continued, “it doesnât feel like a modern word to me. Iâve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what Iâm up to is evolution. Iâm here to tell you that Iâm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”
“Iâd like to think that thanks to opportunities afforded to me, women athletes feel that they can be themselves on the court,” she said of her legacy. “They can be strong yet beautiful. They can wear what they want and say what they want and kick butt and be proud of it all. Iâve made a lot of mistakes in my career. Mistakes are learning experiences, and I embrace those moments. Iâm far from perfect, but Iâve also taken a lot of criticism, and Iâd like to think that I went through some hard times as a professional tennis player so that the next generation could have it easier. Over the years, I hope that people come to think of me as symbolizing something bigger than tennis,” Williams concluded in her touching essay.
During a September 2022 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Williams discussed the fear she had surrounding the Vogue essay then the relief she felt when it finally came out.
The host asked if there was any chance Williams was “pulling a Tom Brady,” referencing the quarterback’s brief retirement before returning to the NFL for another season.
“You know what? Tom Brady started an amazing trend,” she joked.
A Subtle Move Causes a Huge Stir
After The Athletic reported that Williams had requested to reenter the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA)’s International Registered Testing Pool, which is a requirement for active players for drug testing, fans were starting to believe that she was considering a return.
Williams, who said she was “evolving away” from tennis in 2022 rather than using the word “retirement,” had “notified us that she wants to be reinstated into the testing pool,” said Adrian Bassett, an ITIA spokesperson, in a statement to The Athletic.
According to the outlet, Williams’ name appears on a list of players in the pool, which was reported to have been updated on October 6.
Bassett said he does “not know if this means she is coming back,” or if Williams is “just giving herself the option” to return to tennis. “All I can say is sheâs back in the pool and therefore subject to whereabouts,” Bassett told The Athletic.
A player’s name being on the list does not mean they are active, but the addition of Williams’ name in the pool allows her to compete, if she chooses to do so. According to The Athletic, players who reenter must be in the pool for six months before they can compete in a tournament.
Williams Puts the Rumors to Bed Once and for All
All of this commotion online caused Williams to head over to X to finally set the record straight.
“Omg yall Iâm NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-,” Williams wrote in a post on X on Tuesday, December 2.
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