Tennis: ‘I’m not retired’ - Serena Williams teases fans with return

Serena Williams may not be retired after all. Photo / AP

Serena Williams has teased fans over a return to tennis, describing herself as “not retired”.

Twenty-three time major champion Williams, 41, announced her "evolution" away from the sport in Vogue in August. She was showered with tributes across tennis and wider culture during her run to the US Open third round.

Though she shirked away from the word "retirement" and never officially announced the US Open her final tournament, her emotional speech and exit from Arthur Ashe Stadium was widely regarded as confirmation of it being her final bow in the sport.

But it turns out that her absence from tennis may not be permanent. "I am not retired," Williams said at a conference in San Francisco on Monday while promoting her investment company, Serena Ventures. "The chances [seeing her play again] are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court.

"I still haven't really thought about [retirement]. But I did wake up the other day and go on the court and [considered] for the first time in my life that I'm not playing for a competition, and it felt really weird. It was like the first day of the rest of my life and I'm enjoying it, but I'm still trying to find that balance."

Her cryptic answer is not new, as ever since her Vogue announcement she has continued to drop similar indications she may one day return.

In August, she told US TV show Today, "You never know. I've learned in my career, never say never," when asked whether she will play another Grand Slam event. She has also pointed to Tom Brady's u-turn on retirement as starting an "amazing trend".

Williams remains one major title short of Margaret Court's overall record of 24, but said that her ambitions to expand her family had driven her "evolution" away from the court.

In reality, that evolution has been ongoing for the last year at least. The US Open was one of only four singles events Williams competed in in 2022, including Wimbledon where she crashed out in the first round.

Before that, she had spent almost a year out of competitive action due to injury and had turned her focus to numerous successful business ventures, including producing Oscar-winning film King Richard, based on her family's lives, and investing in women's football club Angel City.

When her longtime coach Patrick Mouratoglou left her camp in April, there had been mounting speculation around when her retirement would come, so her eventual goodbye in New York did not come as much of a shock.

If she were to return to the court, she would join sister Venus, 42, who remains sporadically active on the tour.