Four years after an unofficial goodbye, Serena Williams is reportedly in talks to return for doubles at London’s Queen’s Club next month, needing a wild card for the WTA 500 event beginning June 8. The 44-year-old hasn’t played competitively since the 2022 U.S
Serena Williams has been out of competitive tennis for years, but the quiet momentum building around a comeback has started to look real.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is reportedly in discussions to play doubles at the Queen’s Club tournament in London next month, with the WTA 500 event beginning June 8. Williams, 44, would need a wild-card entry, and two wild cards are available for the tournament.
The Served podcast, hosted by former men’s No. 1 Andy Roddick, said Williams could pair with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko on the grass courts.
Williams hasn’t played a competitive event since losing to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open. The longer absence has been part sports decision, part personal choice. After time off to focus on family life. she has recently returned to strenuous physical training. shedding a total of 31 pounds in eight months with the help of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Her eligibility to step back onto the court also hinges on a regulatory timetable. Williams is eligible to compete again after rejoining the sport’s drug testing pool and reaching the mandatory six-month mark back in February.
When Williams appeared on NBC’s TODAY show in January, she didn’t fully shut down the idea of returning. Pressed by Savannah Guthrie about entering the drug protocol, Williams sidestepped the question. “Did I re-enter?” she said. “I didn’t know if I was out. Listen, I can’t discuss this.”
The idea of a return sits alongside a familiar pattern for her family on tour. Older sister Venus Williams has also played intermittently during the past several years, reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals in doubles last year and playing in seven tournaments in 2026.
Queen’s Club is widely seen as a grass-court tune-up for Wimbledon, which begins three weeks later. And the sport’s memory still stretches far beyond current norms—Martina Navratilova is the oldest woman to win a singles match at a Grand Slam event, doing so at Wimbledon in 2004 at age 47.
Serena Williams Queen's Club Wimbledon WTA 500 doubles wild card Victoria Mboko Ajla Tomljanovic GLP-1 drug testing pool