Serena Williams has prodded a potential re-visitation of tennis at 42 years old – only nine months in the wake of bringing forth her subsequent youngster.
The 23-time Huge homerun champ uncovered back in 2022 that she was ‘developing away from tennis’ after a surprising period of strength.
Yet again however on Tuesday the mother of two proposed she was very nearly playing. She composed on X: ‘I’m prepared to hit a few balls once more.’
The more youthful Williams sister has amassed 73 vocation singles titles, gathering more than $94million in prize cash.
She is hitched to Reddit fellow benefactor Alexis Ohanian and the couple have two girls – Alexis Olympia, six, and Adira Waterway, who turns one in August.
Serena WilliamsFour matches in one week.A three hour final match.A 40-year-old mom.A 29-year-old opponent.Still the GOAT. šĀ pic.twitter.com/5DJ6oXVy7a
ā Keith Boykin (@keithboykin)Ā September 3, 2022
Williams last played a competitive match the 2022 US Open, when she was beaten by Ajla Tomljanovic.
But her cryptic social media message prompted many fans to plead with the 42-year-old to return.
‘Please come back. You have another Grand Slam or two you can win! We need you back,’ one wrote.
‘Tennis has become boring since you left,’ said another supporter.
A few months before the 2022 US Open, Williams had revealed that she would soon be moving in a ‘different direction’ as tennis took a backseat.
‘I have never liked the word retirement,’ Williams wrote. ‘It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.
‘I’ve 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 I’m up to is evolution.’
She added: ‘There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction.
‘That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun.
‘I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.’
But barely a month after the US Open, Williams had begun to hint that her career might not be over after all.
‘The chances (of me returning) are very high,’ Williams said. ‘You can come to my house and (see). I have a court.’
HerĀ comments came as part of a promotion for her investment company, Serena Ventures.
‘I started this company a while ago, so I just jumped right into that, she said. ‘I didn’t even think about the whole retirement.
‘I still haven’t really thought about it. But I did go on the court the other day and (realized) for the first time in my life that I’m not playing for a competition and that felt very weird.
‘It was like the first day of the rest of my life, and so far, I am enjoying it. But I’m still trying to find that balance.’
Williams won the first of her 23 Grand Slam titles back at the 1999 US Open. She went on to win six times in New York and was also a multiple winner at the Australian Open (seven times), Roland Garros (three times) and Wimbledon (seven times).
The last of her major wins came in 2017, leaving Williams one shy of Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. The 42-year-old also won 14 major doubles titles alongside her sister Venus.
Serena enjoyed countless memorable battles with rivals over the years, with Maria Sharapova among those to challenge her dominance.
When asked recently whether any ‘beef’ remains with the Russian, she said: ‘Not anymore. I mean, was there ever beef? I guess. It was just competitive.
‘She was winning. I was winning, you know, we both wanted to win, and I don’t think it was personal. It was just, “Do you want to win?”‘
