Serena Williams has sparked speculation about a possible return to professional tennis after filing the necessary paperwork to rejoin the sport’s drug-testing pool—only to later insist she has no plans to compete again.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion retired after the 2022 US Open and has not played since her third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic. However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to BBC Sport that Williams, now 44, has been added back to the list of players registered for out-of-competition testing. Her name also appears in the agency’s most recent publicly released document dated 6 October.
But just hours after the news broke, Williams took to social media to shut down any talk of a comeback, writing: “I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”
Why she requested to be added to the testing pool—despite declaring no intention to return—remains unclear. Inclusion on the list subjects athletes to unannounced drug-testing visits and requires them to provide daily location details for at least one hour each day.
Williams has long distanced herself from the word “retirement,” saying in 2022 that she was “evolving away” from professional tennis. Her farewell at the US Open drew a star-studded audience, including Bill Clinton, Billie Jean King, Tiger Woods, and Mike Tyson, as she won her first two matches before bowing out in the third round.
