After almost four years away from the court, Serena Williams has announced she will be making a return to tennis to enter the doubles tournament at Queen’s. Back in Action explores how the American keeps up at her age.
She’ll be playing alongside 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, currently ranked 9th in the world.
Williams’ last time competing in the sport was after being knocked out of the third round of the US Open in 2022 by Ajla Tomljanovic, and has since given birth to her second child and developed her own capital company.
Until now, a return was not on the cards. There were small rumours, but nothing concrete.
Williams’ name appeared on the list of players registered for the drug-testing pool last year, but she denied she was returning.
However speculation grew when her name was then included on the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITA) reinstatements list in February.
Then, on Monday, she posted a video on social media of her walking on a tennis court, with the caption: ‘Guess everybody heard the news’.
Currently Williams stands at 23 Grand Slam titles, only one behind Novak Djokovic and Margaret Court, both at 24. She has, in the past, expressed a desire to match this.
In an interview with Vogue in 2022, she said: “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want [Court’s] record.”
But is she fit enough to go all the way again?
Since retiring, she did an interview on TODAY, where she said she’s actually even more active since becoming a mother than she was before.
She regularly does cardio workouts, HIIT training, some strength training and stretching.
Williams is also a big fan of Tonal, a smart gym company she’s invested in. She also loves to use her Peloton.
Whilst she’s kept up with exercise, she told Vogue she also knows when to take breaks and rest her body.
“My favorite type of cardio is running, but my body has to be fit to be able to run or else my knees will hurt.
“After playing tennis for so many years, you just wear and tear down your knees, so the elliptical has been growing on me, too,” she said.
So it’s no surprise the 44-year-old is able to make a return to tennis. Keeping her body fit and healthy through motherhood and so-called ‘retirement’ makes a transition back to the sport considerably easier.
Now, she’s just days away from making a comeback to the grass court, with the world waiting to see her return.
