Serena Williams has denied that she is considering a return to tennis after her registration with the sport’s drug-testing body sparked reports of a dramatic comeback.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has not competed since a third-round loss at the 2022 US Open left her one short of the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, held by Margaret Court in the women’s game and Novak Djokovic in men’s tennis.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion’s name appeared on an Oct. 6 list of players in the International Registered Testing Pool, a requirement for a return to competition.
“It is correct that she is back on the Registered Testing Pool list,” Adrian Bassett, a spokesman for the International Tennis Integrity Agency, the sport’s drug-testing body told AFP in London on Tuesday in response to media reports the 44-year-old American had registered.
“At this stage we have no other information.”
However, Williams denied she was planning a return to competitive tennis in a post on X:
She wrote: “Omg (Oh My God) yall (you all) I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy”.
Following her three-set defeat by Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows three years ago, Williams said she did not want to use the word “retiring” but instead explained she was “evolving” away from tennis.
Players who decide to return to testing need to provide information about their time and locations when they are available to give samples.
They also need to complete testing for six months before they are allowed to return to competition.
Williams’s older sister, Venus, — seven times major singles champion — returned to tennis in July at the age of 45 after almost two years away from the Women’s Tennis Association tour.
Serena was ranked as the world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for 319 weeks (third-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.
She won 73 WTA Tour–level singles titles, including 23 major women’s singles titles—the most in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time. She is the only player to accomplish a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.
