Serena Williams plots spectacular tennis comeback aged 44 – three years after last match

Serena Williams – the greatest female tennis player of all-time – appears to be gearing up for a sensational return.

The 44-year-old has not played a competitive tennis match since the 2022 U.S Open – where she successfully came through the opening two rounds before crashing out to Ajla Tomljanovic.

AFP

According to Bounces, Williams has applied for reinstatement to professional tennis via its anti-doping programme.

One day after her final defeat, the American registered her official retirement with the International Tennis Integrity Agency.

That meant she was no longer required to provide her daily location for random drug testing protocols.

It is now believed the 23-time Grand Slam winner has added herself back into the anti-doping programme to set up a comeback in 2026.

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As things stand, Williams is still on the ITIA’s list of retired players, rather than reinstated ones.

Names of reinstated stars only return to the list once they have completed six months back on the testing pool.

The ITIA website’s list of retired players states: “The players listed here have declared themselves retired from the sport and may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question.”

The seven-time Wimbledon women’s title winner is expected to appear on the reinstated list soon.

AFP

The report also claims that Williams explored the possibility of a comeback even sooner.

The tennis star is understood to have begun the reinstatement process in August of this year and just prior to the U.S. Open where she had targeted a link-up with sister Venus in the doubles at Flushing Meadows.

However, the opportunity was denied with spontaneous comeback by retired players not permitted.

Bounces states that it is unclear as to when the exact reinstatement request was made by Williams.

However, she did reappear on a document in October which listed the players registered for the ITIA’s testing pool

And that could potentially see Williams return to competitive tennis by April 2026.

Serena Williams - A breakdown of her 23 Grand Slam wins

Australian Open (7): 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017

French Open (3): 2002, 2013, 2015

Wimbledon (10): 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016

US Open (3): 1999, 2002, 2008

“She has notified us that she wants to be reinstated into the testing pool,” Adrian Bassett, a spokesperson for the ITIA, said it a test message to The Athletic on Tuesday.

“I do not know if this means she is coming back, or just giving herself the option. All I can say is she’s back in the pool and therefore subject to whereabouts.”

Her potential return would provide the opportunity of battle for an elusive 24th Grand Slam title.

Aside from her 23 Majors, Williams holds four Olympic gold medals and the honour of spending 319 weeks as the world’s no.1 ranked player.