Serena Williams is back. Tennis great has wild-card for Wimbledon warmup

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Serena Williams’ evolution is bringing her back to the tennis court.

Williams will play doubles at the HSBC Championships, a warmup tournament for Wimbledon, the tournament confirmed Monday, June 1. It will be her first match in almost four years. She has not played since the 2022 U.S. Open, saying in August of that year that she was “evolving” away from tennis.

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The HSBC Championships, also known as Queen's, begins June 8 in London.

All tournaments, the majors included, reserve a few spots in the draw for wild cards, which can be given to up-and-comers, local players or, in Williams’ case, a returning star. When Williams returned in the summer of 2022 after a yearlong absence following a leg injury, she was given a wild card into Wimbledon.

More: Calling Serena Williams the GOAT doesn't reflect her impact on sports and society | Opinion

Williams, 44, raised eyebrows last fall when she rejoined the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s drug-testing pool, a requirement to play again. She had revealed in August that she’d lost 31 pounds after going on a GLP-1 drug, and credited the medication with finally helping relieve the joint pain she'd had since having her first daughter, Olympia, in September 2017.

But Williams shot down the idea of a comeback, calling it “wildfire.”

“Omg yall I'm NOT coming back. this wildfire is crazy-" Williams wrote on X on Dec. 2.

Williams had to be in the pool for six months to be eligible again. According to the ITIA’s website, she was reinstated Feb. 22 of this year.

Rumors of her return gained new steam last month, when Alycia Parks posted video of her practicing with Williams. Parks then told the Tennis Channel that they were hitting together about three times a week.

“She's hitting good," Parks told the Tennis Channel in a March 19 interview. “She's definitely fit. She looks great and she's hitting the ball amazing.”

Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam winner and cultural icon

Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, male or female, with 23 Grand Slam titles won over three different decades. But her influence has stretched far beyond the game.

Williams shattered the idea that female tennis players needed to be dainty, white women, embracing her muscles and curves. She played into her 40s, winning the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant with her first child and returning to the tour after having Olympia.

She shined a spotlight on the crisis in maternal health care for Black women. She started her own investment company, Serena Ventures, to address the imbalance in venture capital. She is a part-owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, the NWSL’s Angel City and the WNBA’s expansion franchise Toronto Tempo.

“I kind of understood … that someone who looks like me needs to start writing the big checks,” Williams wrote in an August 2022 essay for Vogue. “Sometimes like attracts like. Men are writing those big checks to one another, and in order for us to change that, more people who look like me need to be in that position, giving money back to themselves.”

When Williams stepped away after the U.S. Open in 2022, it was in part because she and husband, Alexis Ohanian, wanted more children.

"Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair," Williams wrote in an Aug. 9, 2022, essay in Vogue. "But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give."

Williams had her second daughter, Adira, in August 2023.

In an interview with Porter published Dec. 1, 2025, Williams said not playing tennis was still “difficult,” but she missed it less than she once had.

“Not as much as this time last year,” she told the magazine. “No matter how prepared you are to retire, and particularly from doing something every day at such a high level, it’s hard. I really prepped myself the best way I could, but it’s something that’s still a little difficult.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Serena Williams returning to tennis after almost four-year break

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