Nearly four years after stepping away from professional tennis, Serena Williams is preparing for a highly anticipated return to competition.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion announced Monday that she will return to the court at the HSBC Championships at London’s Queen’s Club, a prestigious grass-court tournament that serves as one of the key tune-up events ahead of Wimbledon. Williams, now 44, received a wild card entry into the doubles draw and is expected to compete alongside rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko.
The tournament begins with women’s qualifying on June 6, with the main draw starting June 8. Wimbledon, where Williams won seven singles titles, begins later this month, making Queen’s Club an ideal opportunity for Williams to test her game on grass before deciding whether to enter the year’s third Grand Slam tournament.
Williams has not played a competitive match since the 2022 U.S. Open, where she lost in the second round to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović in what many assumed was her farewell appearance. However, Williams never officially retired. Instead, she described herself as “evolving away from tennis,” leaving open the possibility of a future return.
Signs of a comeback first surfaced late last year when Williams appeared on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of players registered in the sport’s anti-doping testing pool. Under international tennis rules, players returning from an extended absence must provide at least six months’ notice and make themselves available for regular drug testing before becoming eligible to compete.
At the time, Williams quickly tried to quiet speculation.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back,” she wrote on social media in December. “This wildfire is crazy.”
Her enrollment in the testing program, she insisted, should not be interpreted as confirmation of a comeback.
Monday’s announcement changed that.
In a brief social media video, Williams walked onto a tennis court before the message “Guess everybody heard the news” appeared on screen.
Shortly afterward, Queen’s Club officials confirmed that Williams had accepted a wild card into the doubles tournament.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “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.”
Her expected partner, Victoria Mboko, is one of tennis’ fastest-rising stars. The 19-year-old Canadian burst onto the international scene last year with a stunning run to the Canadian Open title, becoming one of the sport’s most talked-about young players. Since then, she has continued her rapid ascent, climbing all the way to No. 9 in the world rankings.
While casual sports fans may not yet recognize her name, Mboko is widely viewed as one of the future faces of women’s tennis. The pairing also creates one of the most intriguing storylines in the sport, matching a 44-year-old legend with a teenage star who is nearly 25 years younger.
Serena’s return also comes as her older sister, Venus Williams, has attempted a comeback of her own. Venus returned to tour-level competition in July 2025 after a 16-month absence and won her opening singles match in Washington. Since then, however, she has struggled to advance deep into tournaments, reaching the second round only once while suffering a series of first-round exits. Her experience underscores the challenge Serena faces as she returns to a tour now dominated by younger players.
Whether Williams’ return at Queen’s Club will lead to a Wimbledon appearance remains unclear. Tournament organizers have not announced any plans regarding Wimbledon, but her decision to return on grass just weeks before the year’s most prestigious grass-court championship has fueled widespread speculation that another appearance at the All England Club could be in her future.
For now, fans will get their first look at Serena Williams back in competition when she takes the court at Queen’s Club beginning June 8, marking the end of a nearly four-year absence and the start of what could be one of the most compelling comeback stories in recent tennis history.