For the last two months, it’s been a possibility that Serena Williams could officially return to professional tennis in some capacity after she applied with the International Tennis Integrity Agency to re-enter the International Registered Testing Pool. Even Williams herself won’t give a firm answer about what she plans to do, but all the signs are seemingly pointing to her attempting a return.
On Monday, the ITIA updated its list of reinstatements, and Williams will officially be reinstated on Feb. 22 after completing the six months of re-entry into the drug testing pool. Per tennis insider Ben Rothenberg, Williams could be setting up to return to the court at Indian Wells in March, or even at Miami later that month. Or, of course, she could be aiming to make a legendary return at one of the tennis majors, like the French Open or Wimbledon this summer.
With reinstatement, Williams will be eligible to compete in singles and doubles of any sort that she wishes. Maybe she’ll compete alongside her older sister Venus in a tournament, either playing women’s doubles together or in singles separately.
If the 23-time major champion does choose to return, it would mean her tweet in December claiming she was “NOT coming back” would’ve been a red herring. Her dismissal of answering any questions about an unretirement while appearing on The Today Show a couple weeks ago would make more sense, though.
“That’s not a yes or a no. I don’t know, I’m just going to see what happens,” was one of Williams’s responses on the morning show.
The 44-year-old did recently post a video of her practicing tennis with her two daughters, Olympia and Adira, hitting balls on courts next to her. Maybe this was a teaser video of sorts to get fans fired up.
Although nothing is confirmed at this point, it seems likely that we could see Williams back on the tennis court sometime this year. Who would’ve thought we’d be saying that after she stepped away from the sport in 2022?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Serena Williams to Make Major Step Ahead of Potential Tennis Return.
