MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 28: Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women’s Singles Final against Venus Williams of the United States on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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Serena Williams will play her first official tennis match in nearly four years on Tuesday when she hits the doubles court at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London.
Williams, 44, last played at the 2022 U.S. Open when she said she was “evolving away from tennis.’”
On Tuesday, the 23-time Grand Slam champion will take to the grass courts with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko against the No. 3-seeded team of Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
Asked about her motivation to come back, Williams cited her two daughters, Olympia (8) and Adira (2).
“I don’t need to win,” she told reporters. “I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives, so for me, that is not important to me. And it’s important that I keep reminding myself of that because I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain.
“It’s really about my kids getting to see me play. I mean, Olympia is a little bit older, Adira’s very young. But it’s also having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that. One last time is kind of cool and exciting.”
After Queen’s Club, Williams will play doubles in the Berlin Open later this month with an unnamed partner.
There has been speculation that if she feels comfortable on the doubles court, she could ask for a wildcard into Wimbledon, which she has won seven times.
“For singles, I can’t say yeah, I can’t say no. Right now no,” she said. “I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles. We’ll see if I get there, and if not, that’s not my journey right now.”
Williams’ net worth as of June 3 was $350 million, per Forbes.