LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 09: Serena Williams of The United States celebrates during The Ladies Singles Final against Angelique Kerber of Germany on day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 9, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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The Serena Williams comeback is full steam ahead.
The 44-year-old tennis legend will return to tennis next week at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London where she will play doubles with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko.
Williams will also play doubles at the Berlin Tennis Open beginning on June 15, with a partner yet to be confirmed. The tournament made the announcement Friday.
“Every tournament I add to my schedule right now feels special, and Berlin is no exception,” the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said on berlintennisopen.com.
“I’m excited to compete in front of the German fans and continue building momentum throughout the grass-court season.”
Williams, who owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles and is widely considered the GOAT of women’s tennis, also practiced on the grass at Queen’s Club on Thursday alongside 19-year-old Mboko.
Williams hasn’t played an official match since the U.S. Open in 2022, when she said she was “evolving away” from tennis.
But ever since she reentered the anti-doping program earlier this year, rumors have been rampant that she was preparing for a return to the tour.
Former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said Williams might have come back earlier if she hadn’t had to spend six months in the program.
“I’d heard last year at the U.S. Open she wanted to play mixed [doubles],” Davenport said, per ESPN. “She wasn’t able to because of the drug-testing protocol.”
Depending on how her first couple of events go, Williams could ask for a singles wildcard at Wimbledon, which she has won seven times.
“I think it’s great,” Davenport said. “So many stories sometimes in our sport go negative. And I love that there’s an excitement about a player returning.
“It’s going to be great to see her back out there. Watching her walk off the court in New York, I really thought it was goodbye. Some players, you think, ‘oh, they might come back,’ but I never thought that that would be the case.
“You have to think that she’s going to ease her way back into singles. Then all of a sudden it’s game on again for the Grand Slam race. So I’m here for it.”
Williams’ last major came at the Australian Open in 2017 and she remains one behind Margaret Court (and Novak Djokovic) on the all-time majors list.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Davenport added. “If anyone could do it, certainly it could be her. She looks in incredible shape, and better shape than arguably when she left the sport.
“Her mindset has always been to not settle for mediocrity. So I think we have to assume that she’s coming back because she feels she’s in a position where she can actually make an impact immediately in women’s tennis.”