Watch: Serena Williams Tells Oprah Winfrey Why She Initially Thought Weight Loss Shots Were a “Shortcut”
Serena Williams got busy discovering herself again after stepping away from tennis in 2022.
And what she discovered was that she wanted to play more tennis.
On June 1, Serena confirmed she’ll be returning to the sport at the Queen’s Club Championship in London, which begins June 8. The 44-year-old has accepted a wild card to play doubles at the grass-court Wimbledon tune-up, where she’ll partner with 19-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Serena—who shares daughters Olympia, 8, and Adira, 2, with husband Alexis Ohanian—said in a statement to The Athletic. “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.”
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion didn’t say whether she was gunning for a spot in Wimbledon’s main draw later this month, but we know Serena isn’t just coming to play.
Well, so to speak.
While there’s a long way to go from getting ready to compete again and actually hoisting a trophy—something Serena did 98 times on the WTA Tour over 27 years, including 73 times as a singles champion—health and fitness has remained a priority for the 5-foot-9 athlete.
“I love training,” she said on Today in January, noting Pilates and running were her go-to workouts. “I think it’s amazing, and I want to continue to do it.”
Serena shared last summer that she shed 31 pounds with the help of the GLP-1 drug Zepbound, disabused of her former belief that taking medication to lose weight was a “shortcut.”
Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images
But, she explained on Today, “I’m lighter, not physically, but just mentally. I think having more energy, I just feel happier. I can get more things done. I feel better going about my day…Not that I didn’t feel good before, but now, there’s a difference.”
So much so that she was contemplating a return to tennis?
“I’m just having fun and enjoying my life right now,” Serena said. But, she added, putting a little spin on the ball, “I’m just going to see what happens.”
The International Tennis Integrity Agency said in December that Serena had requested reinstatement into the testing pool (making her eligible for random drug tests, etc.), sparking major speculation she was plotting a comeback.
“Omg yall,” Serena wrote in a Dec. 2 X post. “I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”
Yet apparently there were still some smoking embers within.
As there were when Serena returned to the court in December 2017, three months after giving birth to Olympia and developing a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
Phil Walter/Getty Images
When Serena won the 2020 ASB Classic in January 2020, she wrote on Instagram that the title was “extra special because it was the first time I got to show my daughter that her mom is a champion.”
And she made it to four major finals as a mom, hoping to match Margaret Court‘s record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, but she ultimately came up short.
Ahead of the 2022 U.S. Open, after which she hung up her racket following a third-round loss, Serena shared with Vogue that she’d be “evolving away” from tennis.
Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress
“I have never liked the word retirement,” she explained. “It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution.”
First and foremost, she wanted to turn into a mother of two.
Alexis announced Adira’s birth in August 2023, writing on Instagram, “I’m grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama.”
And Serena didn’t wait for retirement to diversify her portfolio. Aside from her forever-obsession with fashion (she just attended her eighth Met Gala in May), she started her venture capital firm Serena Ventures in 2014 and, among other things, is a founding investor in women’s soccer team Angel City FC.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for W+P
So, she was always thinking about the future. Only, as she soon realized, it was impossible to know what life would be like without tennis.
“No matter how prepared you are to retire, and particularly from doing something every day at such a high level, it’s hard,” Serena told PORTER in an interview published Dec. 1. “I really prepped myself the best way I could, but it’s something that’s still a little difficult.”
The best thing was being able to “just put my kids first,” she added. “I want to be around my family. I’m cooking every night that I’m home. I’m home 29 nights a month.”
But Venus Williams, who’s still competing at 45, let it be known she was rooting for her sister to return to the court.
“I keep saying to my team: The only thing that would make this better is if she was here,” she told reporters during the D.C. Open last July. “She can take six months off and she clocks it clean. You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good.”
Meanwhile, Serena wanted to make sure she timed her shot perfectly.
Because once she was serious about a comeback, as she captioned a June 1 video announcing her plan, “Good news travels fast.”
Before she returns to being a tennis player, see more scenes from Serena’s life as a mom:
Snapchat / Serena Williams
Insatagram/Serena Williams
Insatagram/Serena Williams
Insatagram/Serena Williams
Insatagram/Serena Williams
Instagram/Serena Williams
Instagram/Alexis Ohanian
Instagram/Alexis Ohanian
Serena Williams/Instagram
Serena Williams/Instagram
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