A bold headline: Serena Williams isn’t returning to tennis, despite new testing pool rumors. And this twist isn’t as simple as it seems.
D'Arcy Maine reports that, hours after it emerged that Serena Williams has entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) registered testing pool, the 23-time major champion pushed back on any notion of a comeback.
“Omg yall I'm NOT coming back,” Williams wrote on X, calling the situation a “wildfire” that’s gotten out of hand.
This clarification comes after Williams, widely regarded as the greatest female tennis player of all time, announced her retirement in 2022 following the US Open. Reports have since circulated that she has sought reinstatement, and her name appears on the ITIA’s most recent testing-pool roster dated Oct. 6. The Athletic was first to report her inclusion on the list on Tuesday.
ESPN reached out to Jill Smoller, Williams’ longtime agent, for comment but she hadn’t responded at the time of publication.
Under ITIA protocol, Williams officially retired with the agency in 2022, which suspended routine drug testing for her. Her retirement status remains listed on the ITIA site, but she would be eligible to return to competition and be listed as a reinstated player after six months of active status in the pool. Players in this category—many of whom sit in the top 100—must maintain daily whereabouts reporting and participate in random testing. It remains unclear why Williams would subject herself to this stringent surveillance if a comeback isn’t on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Serena’s elder sister Venus Williams, 45, did make a WTA return this July after a 16-month hiatus. After Venus exited the US Open in a memorable first round, Serena publicly congratulated her sister and added, “P.S. I hope to be like you.”
Venus, who has faced ongoing questions about Serena’s possible return, acknowledged at the Citi Open in July that she misses playing with Serena and that any announcement about a comeback would come from Serena herself.
Venus has since accepted a wildcard to the Auckland Open in January. Notably, Serena’s last WTA title—her only one after returning from maternity leave—came at the 2020 Auckland event.
