Rumors about Serena Williams making a comeback to the professional tennis circuit have been circulating for some time now. Amidst these speculations, American professional tennis player Alycia Parks opened up about training with the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
The rumors gained momentum in December 2025 when it was reported that Williams’ name appeared on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) October 2025 anti-doping testing pool list. As of February 2026, her name appears as reinstated on the ITIA website.
What Alycia Parks Said About Training With Serena Williams
Parks is currently competing at the 2026 Miami Open in Florida. She began her campaign by defeating qualifier Sinja Kraus with a scoreline of 7-5, 7-6(4) in the first round. While speaking to Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman after her match, the 25-year-old, who previously revealed she had been practicing with Williams, explained how their training sessions came to be.
Parks explained that she reached out to Williams via text to ask if they could train together, and the former world No. 1 agreed. She expressed that Williams has been helping her since then, and they practice about three times a week.
“Yeah, I did text her when I was, I think, in the Middle East, and I was like, hey, like, can you practice when I come back to the states? And she was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ So we got in a few sessions, and yeah, she’s been helping me. When I’m home, I would say probably [practice] three times a week,” Parks said.
Parks mentioned that Williams is “fit” and performing well in practice. However, she is unsure when, or if, the 23-time singles Grand Slam champion plans to return, as they primarily focus on practicing together and don’t discuss her comeback on the Tour.
“She’s hitting good. She’s definitely fit. She looks great, and she’s hitting the ball. No practice sets (between us). Just games, like groundstroke games. I think we’re tied (in the score) right now. I don’t know if she’s coming back. I don’t know when she’s coming back. We just go to practice. We don’t really talk about too much of her coming back,” she added.
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Parks will face the 33rd seed, Maria Sakkari, in the second round of the 2026 Miami Open. The two players have met only once on the WTA Tour, in the second round of the 2022 Ostrava Open, where Parks won 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.
The winner of the second-round match between Parks and Sakkari at the WTA 1000 hard-court tournament in Florida will advance to face either fourth seed Coco Gauff or Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the third round.
