LONDON (AP) 鈥� Tennis great is not ruling out a return to singles competition but suggested Sunday it’s not imminent ahead of in the sport she dominated for two decades.
First up for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is the doubles tournament at Queen鈥檚 Club, marking her first competitive tennis since the 2022 US Open.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 say no right now, I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles, and we will see if I get there, and if not鈥� that鈥檚 not my journey right now,鈥� Williams said in an eagerly anticipated press conference on Sunday.
Williams will play alongside 19-year-old Canadian , who is 25 years her junior. Their first match is scheduled for Tuesday against third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe.
The 44-year-old Williams has not competed . At the time, she said she didn鈥檛 want to use the word 鈥渞etiring鈥� and instead declared that she was 鈥渆volving鈥� away from tennis.
Williams, who shares her two daughters with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, revealed that as recently as December she believed she 鈥渄efinitely was not鈥� returning to tennis, but, after some conversations, thought: 鈥淲ell, why not? For lack of a better explanation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 summer, the kids aren鈥檛 in school, so it鈥檚 a perfect time to get out there, have fun, and see what happens.鈥�
Williams won seven Wimbledon singles titles and six at the U.S. Open before stepping away from the game. She won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, including six at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open 鈥� all with her older sister Venus Williams.
She says she is liberating herself of any expectations ahead of her comeback.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 need to win,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚鈥檝e won more than most people have in their whole lives, so it鈥檚 not that important to me, and it鈥檚 important that I keep reminding myself of that, because I don鈥檛 have anything to prove.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain 鈥� This whole journey is like, I鈥檓 putting no pressure on myself.鈥�
In Mboko, Williams saw something, she said, 鈥渢hat reminded me a lot of myself鈥� in her attitude, resilience and drive. After making the 鈥減retty 11th-hour commitment鈥� to Queen鈥檚, she reached out to the Canadian via text message.
Mboko said: 鈥淪he鈥檚 hitting great. She has such clean ball striking, she could probably take years off, and when she steps on the court she could probably find that rhythm again and find her timing. So I think that鈥檚 really a God-given gift that she has.
鈥淚 personally think she鈥檚 ready to go. I鈥檓 hitting with her, she鈥檚 hitting pretty big and she鈥檚 really fit, so we鈥檒l see.鈥�
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