LONDON : Tennis great Serena Williams said she is returning to competition with no expectations and no pressure to win, as the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion prepares for her first match in nearly four years.
The 44-year-old American will make her comeback at the Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday, partnering rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko in the women’s doubles event.
Williams, who has not competed since 2022 and won the last of her Grand Slam singles titles in 2017, said the opportunity to play again was more important than any result.
“I don’t need to win. I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives,” Williams told reporters on Sunday.
“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 a gain.”
Williams had previously dismissed speculation about a return but said conversations with friends and colleagues gradually changed her thinking.
“It was just talking to a few people and just chatting about different possibilities of just having fun. You know, something a little bit different,” she said.
“I just kept talking, and talking, and then I was like, ‘Well, why not?’ for lack of a better explanation.”
The former world number one has yet to decide whether she will also compete in singles, but her return has already generated significant attention across the sport.
Williams will team up with Mboko, one of the game’s emerging talents, in a partnership that bridges generations. The Canadian was born seven years after Williams won her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open and grew up admiring the American legend.
“She could probably take years off and when she steps on the court she could probably find that rhythm again and find her timing,” Mboko said.
“So, I think that’s really a God-given gift she has. She’s ready to go.”
Williams and Mboko will face American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, the third seeds, in the opening round of the women’s doubles on Tuesday.
For Williams, however, the comeback is less about adding to a glittering trophy collection and more about embracing the chance to compete once again.
“I don’t have anything to lose,” she said. “Everything here is just a gain.”
