Now that Serena Williams has announced her return to professional tennis, there are important questions we’d like her to answer in detail. Why is that?
Why would a 44-year-old mother of two, who had won everything there was to win and got a spectacular exit at the US Open four years ago, go through this again?
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In a clear sign of her intention to play again after spending more than six months in the drug testing pool, Williams is scheduled to return next week and play doubles at the HSBC Championship, a grass tournament prelude to Wimbledon.
“We feel the Queen’s Club is the perfect place to begin our next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “Glass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m thrilled to be competing again on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
And now the elephant in the room is: What does she want from this? What do you think she will accomplish?
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To be clear, this is not meant as a criticism. Serena can do whatever she wants considering what she’s done so far for the match. If you think she’s worth a try, move on right away. Every tournament on the calendar would like to give her a wild card and welcome her back.
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And regardless of the outcome, seeing her on the tennis court again will be a shock to the sport this summer. At the very least, it will be interesting to see what level she can compete at in four years’ time – and let’s be honest about this – this ending, while far from embarrassing, exposed her physical decline against younger, fitter opponents.
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So…why?
Was losing in the first round to Harmony Tan at her last Wimbledon so bad that she still hasn’t recovered from it? Does she want her oldest daughter, Alexis, now 8, to remember watching her play? Is she aiming for doubles with Venus? After losing more than 30 pounds and becoming a spokesperson for GLP-1 drugs, does she think she has a better chance of doing more damage now than she did a few years ago?
Or is she just bored?
All of them are attractive.
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Since her retirement, Serena Williams has largely stayed out of the spotlight, focusing on a number of business ventures, including part ownership of the Los Angeles Golf Club, an indoor golf league team backed by Tiger Woods.
Throughout history, tennis players have been notoriously bad at retiring. Bjorn Borg attempted a comeback but failed. Martina Navratilova returned in her mid-40s and had some success in doubles, winning the US Open mixed title just before her 50th birthday. At age 47, she became the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam singles match.
So it’s not impossible to believe that a healthy and committed Serena could create some fun moments for fans and win some matches along the way.
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But when she retired from playing in 2022, using the word “evolve” away from tennis rather than retire, it seemed like the right time. Williams was still a capable player, but as she declined, the younger generation was growing up.
And it was clear at the time that she wasn’t going to tie Margaret Court for a 24th Grand Slam title – a bogus record given that seven of Court’s Australian titles came before the Open era, when Field was primarily an Australian amateur.
In her later years, Williams desperately set her sights on the 24-year-old, but even as she worked hard in pursuit of what she never achieved, the returns seemed to dwindle.
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It’s hard to imagine much has changed in that regard over the past four years. The idea that Serena, 44, would go head-to-head with world-class athletes like Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in their prime is bizarre, even delusional.
In Selena’s case, we have to be open to the impossible, but our expectations must be low.
Maybe that’s not what she wants. Perhaps, by her calculations, just being semi-competitive in her mid-40s proves she’s worked as hard as winning all the big trophies before becoming a mother.
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After all, you have nothing to lose. The stupidest topic in sports is whether someone will tarnish their accomplishments by performing poorly at the end of their career. That’s complete nonsense. Even if she comes back, loses on a losing streak, and goes back into retirement, what Williams accomplished cannot be underestimated.
At this point, everything is upside down.
But it can also be a little confusing. When Serena left the game four years ago, entering a new phase in her life seemed like a natural endpoint. She had nothing to prove to anyone, including herself. Her family and business empire became more of a priority.
Something has changed. It would be helpful to know what that is as she prepares for a return to professional tennis.
