Serena Williams is back. Tennis great has wild card for Wimbledon warmup

Williams will play doubles at the HSBC Championships, a warmup tournament for Wimbledon, on a wild card, the tournament confirmed Monday. It will be her first match in almost four years. Williams has not played since the 2022 U.S. Open, saying in August of that year that she was “evolving” away from tennis.

The HSBC Championships, also known as Queen's Club, begins June 8 in London. It wasn't immediately clear who Williams will play with. She is a 14-time grand slam doubles champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist in doubles. Those titles were won with her sister, Venus.

"Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in the tournament's release announcing her return. "Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Several outlets reported that Williams' partner would be Canadia Victoria Mboko, currently ranked No. 9 in the world in singles. Asked last week at the French Open about the potential partnership, Mboko said that was an announcement for Williams to make.

"I feel like if she's ready to come back on her own terms, then I feel like it's up to her to announce that, but ‌other than that, I don't really have much to say," Mboko said.

"The moment is all up to her, and when she's ready to come back."

All tournaments, the majors included, reserve a few spots in the draw for wild cards, which can be given to up-and-comers, local players or, in Williams’ case, a returning star. When Williams returned in the summer of 2022 after a yearlong absence following a leg injury, she was given a wild card into Wimbledon.

Williams would no doubt get another wild card from Wimbledon if she wants to play this year. Any tournament would be happy to have the 23-time Grand Slam champion, who remains one of the biggest names in all of sports.

Indeed, Wimbledon's response to the video Williams posted confirming her return was notable.

"Serena back on grass," Wimbledon wrote, adding a green heart emoji.

All eyes had been on Williams

Williams' future has been the source of much speculation in recent months. The 44-year-old raised eyebrows last fall when she rejoined the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s drug-testing pool, a requirement to play again. She had revealed in August she’d lost 31 pounds after going on a GLP-1 drug, and credited the medication with finally helping relieve the joint pain she'd had since having her first daughter, Olympia, in September 2017.

But Williams shot down the idea of a comeback, calling it “wildfire.”

“Omg yall I'm NOT coming back. this wildfire is crazy," Williams wrote on X on Dec. 2.

Williams had to be in the pool for six months to be eligible again. According to the ITIA’s website, she was reinstated Feb. 22 of this year.

Williams dodged additional questions about her return. But the rumors gained new steam in March, when Alycia Parks posted video of her practicing with Williams. Parks then told the Tennis Channel that they were hitting together about three times a week.

“She's hitting good," Parks told the Tennis Channel in a March 19 interview. “She's definitely fit. She looks great and she's hitting the ball amazing.”

But if Williams was to play this summer, she had to make an announcement soon. On Monday, she confirmed her return with an Instagram post with longtime sponsor Nike. In the video, Williams is practicing on the tennis court but walks to her bag after hearing her phone repeatedly buzz and ring.

"Guess everybody heard the news" flashes across the screen as Williams is heard saying, "I've got to change my number."

"Good news travels fast," Williams wrote on the post.

The news was met with excitement from the tennis world — and beyond. Caroline Wozniacki, one of Williams' closest friends and herself a Grand Slam champion, responded with a fire emoji and clapping hands. Lindsey Vonn, who made her own comeback after almost six years away from Alpine skiing, wrote, "LFG!!!" with two bicep emojis. Track star Allyson Felix, who recently announced her own comeback, said, "Yessssss" with three fire emojis.

"Serena is one of the greatest athletes of all-time, with a legacy that extends far beyond the court," Valerie Camillo, chair of the WTA, said in a statement. "Her return is an expression of her passion for competition, and I cannot wait to see her face a new generation of top players."

Grand Slam winner, cultural icon

Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, male or female, with 23 Grand Slam titles won over three different decades. But her influence has stretched far beyond the game.

Williams shattered the idea that female tennis players needed to be dainty white women, embracing her muscles and curves. She played into her 40s, winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant with her first child and returning to the tour after having Olympia.

She shined a spotlight on the crisis in maternal health care for Black women. She started her own investment company, Serena Ventures, to address the imbalance in venture capital. She is a part-owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, the NWSL’s Angel City and the WNBA’s expansion franchise Toronto Tempo.

“I kind of understood … that someone who looks like me needs to start writing the big checks,” Williams wrote in an August 2022 essay for Vogue. “Sometimes like attracts like. Men are writing those big checks to one another, and in order for us to change that, more people who look like me need to be in that position, giving money back to themselves.”

When Williams stepped away after the U.S. Open in 2022, it was in part because she and husband, Alexis Ohanian, wanted more children.

"Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair," Williams wrote in an Aug. 9, 2022, essay in Vogue. "But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give."

Williams had her second daughter, Adira, in August 2023.

In an interview with Porter published Dec. 1, 2025, Williams said not playing tennis was still “difficult,” but she missed it less than she once had.

“Not as much as this time last year,” she told the magazine. “No matter how prepared you are to retire, and particularly from doing something every day at such a high level, it’s hard. I really prepped myself the best way I could, but it’s something that’s still a little difficult.”