PARIS (AP) 鈥� is returning to at age 44 after nearly four years away from the sport.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has accepted a wild card invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen鈥檚 Club grass-court tournament in London, the WTA Tour announced Monday.
with the caption, 鈥淕uess everybody heard the news.鈥� The post had a video with her phone ringing, during which she said, 鈥淚 gotta change my number.鈥�
The Queen鈥檚 Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play 鈥渨ith a partner to be announced in due course.鈥�
A return on grass will raise speculation that Williams also plans to compete at Wimbledon, which starts June 28. She鈥檚 won seven singles titles at the All England Club.
Williams has not competed . At the time, Williams said she didn鈥檛 want to use the word 鈥渞etiring鈥� and instead declared that she was 鈥渆volving鈥� away from tennis.
鈥淪erena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she鈥檚 pushing the boundaries and coming back,鈥� said Martina Navratilova, the previous oldest former No. 1 to launch a comeback, at 43 years, 10 months.
鈥淭o many of the younger players, they never had the opportunity to play her; some may have never watched her on television so this will be a new and exciting experience,鈥� Navratilova said.
Williams, who has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, after re-registering with tennis鈥� mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier 鈥� which is the first step toward a comeback.
Four-time major winner , who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.
鈥淚t will bring people to watch tennis,鈥� Osaka said Thursday at the French Open. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it鈥檚 going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.鈥�
Williams recently posted on a hard court with her daughter: 鈥淩umor has it鈥 got a new trainer,鈥� Williams said in the post.
Williams鈥� second daughter was born in 2023.
When it was revealed last year that Williams had signed up to return to the drug-testing pool, she wrote on social media: 鈥淥mg yall I鈥檓 NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.鈥�
Williams’ older sister, Venus, is still playing occasionally at 45.
Gauff never got to play Williams
鈥淥ne of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,鈥� said in Paris. 鈥淚t would be cool for this sport to have a legend back playing.鈥�
American player, Iva Jovic, 18, also sounded thrilled.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 amazing. It鈥檚 really cool,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have never seen Serena in real life. Obviously I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis, so it鈥檚 going to be incredible.鈥�
Like Osaka, she thinks it will boost tennis in general.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to make a lot of headlines and it鈥檚 something that people are going to talk about,鈥� Jovic said.
Added fellow American player Madison Keys, 鈥淪erena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let鈥檚 be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.
鈥淚 mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,鈥� Keys added. 鈥淪o why not watch more?鈥�
WTA chair Valerie Camillo said that 鈥淪erena is one of the greatest athletes of all-time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court.
鈥淗er return is an expression of her passion for competition and I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players,” Camillo added. 鈥淪erena is not just a great champion. She鈥檚 a successful entrepreneur, a powerful advocate for the issues that matter 鈥� and one of the most iconic women in the world. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the WTA Tour at this hugely exciting moment for women鈥檚 tennis.鈥�
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AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.
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