Serena Williams insists ‘I’m NOT coming back’ despite rumors

Tennis great Serena Williams took to X on Tuesday to insist that she is not planning a return to the court, hours after news broke that she has re-entered the sport’s drug-testing pool.

“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back,” the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote. “This wildfire is crazy-”

Williams played her last match on Sept. 2, 2002, a loss to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the U.S. Open. The next day, Williams registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees anti-doping and anti-corruption efforts in the sport, meaning she was no longer subject to regular drug testing.

An ITIA spokesperson confirmed to The Times on Tuesday that Williams is back in the agency’s drug-testing pool. Retired players “may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question,” according to the ITIA website.

That is why talk of a potential Williams comeback was spreading like “wildfire” before the 44-year-old attempted to extinguish the flames on X. The mother of two did not explain why she is back in the testing pool. A representative for Williams did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Times.

Williams famously avoided the word “retirement” when she announced her plan to step away from tennis in an August 2022 column in Vogue.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution,” she said. “I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Older sister Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, returned to the court earlier this year after a lengthy hiatus. During her run to the U.S. Open women’s doubles quarterfinals with partner Leylah Fernandez, Venus Williams mentioned that her sister was “coaching from afar.”