Serena Williams has refuted claims she was considering a return to professional tennis.
After Athletics reported Tuesday that Williams’ name appeared again on the most recent list of test group players recorded by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the former tennis pro – who retired in 2022 – was forced to respond to return rumors.
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“Oh my God, I will NOT come back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams posted hours after the report was released.
She did not specify in her message whether or not her name was on the list, or why it would be.
The Independent has contacted Williams’ representatives for comment.
Throughout her career, Williams won 23 Grand Slam championships (Getty Images)
THE 23 times Grand Slam champion announced in a 2022 personal essay published in Vogue that she would retire from tennis after that year’s US Open to focus on her family with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” she wrote at the time. “I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a man I wouldn’t be writing this because I would be playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical work of growing our family.
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“Don’t get me wrong: I love being a woman and I loved every second I was pregnant with Olympia… But I’m 41 this month and something has to give.”
Elsewhere in the editorialWilliams said he doesn’t like to use the word “retirement.”
“That doesn’t seem like a modern word to me…Perhaps the best word to describe what I do is evolution,” she wrote at the time. “I’m here to tell you that I’m moving from tennis to other things that are important to me.”
The sports great also wrote candidly about how painful the idea of retirement was for her, adding that it was “the hardest thing I could imagine.”
Williams retired from tennis to focus on her growing family (Getty Images)
“I hate it. I hate having to be at a crossroads… But these days, if I have to choose between building my tennis resume and starting my family, I choose the latter.”
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Williams has won seven Wimbledon titles, seven Australian Opens, six US Opens and three French Opens. She also holds four Olympic gold medals. Along with her older sister, Venus Williams, they have dominated tennis for most of the last 25 years.
Fans were disappointed to see Williams shoot down a potential return to the tennis circuit, as many commented under her X post that they hope she changes her mind and eventually returns.
“And it’s up to you to believe it, but I know you have another grand slam in there,” one person wrote on X, while another agreed, writing, “You had our hopes up there for a minute.”
“Why not? We love you,” a third person wrote.
