When you are arguably one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racket, you don’t just announce a comeback without it breaking the internet. Almost four years after her retirement after the 2022 US Open, Serena Williams is officially returning to competitive tennis, and many inside and outside the game reacted in the comments.
Serena Williams Announces Queen’s Club Comeback, and Caroline Wozniacki and Lindsey Vonn’s Reactions Say It All
The 44-year-old icon just posted a cheeky Instagram reel with a caption, “Good news travels fast. In the video, she is seen walking toward a bench at a tennis court, a racket in her hand, as her phone buzzes nonstop with notifications and calls. She says, “I gotta change my number,” before the screen shows the phrase: “Guess everybody heard the news.“
The news that Williams has officially accepted a doubles wildcard for the upcoming HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club, a WTA 500 event in West London, kicking off on June 8, has been circulating since last week.
In the Instagram comment section of her post that drew reactions within 10 minutes, former world No. 1 and longtime friend Caroline Wozniacki chimed in with support, simply dropping: “🔥👏🏻”
Alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn wrote: “LFG!!! 💪🏻💪🏻”
Wimbledon’s official account also commented: “Serena back on grass 💚.” This nod is something special, as Williams has won seven Wimbledon women’s singles titles, six women’s doubles titles, and the mixed doubles title once.
However, she isn’t reuniting with her sister Venus Williams, with whom she won an astonishing 14 Grand Slam doubles titles (including their final run together at the 2022 US Open). Instead, Serena is set to partner with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, a current top-10 singles player who grew up idolizing Williams.
It was on Andy Roddick’s “Served” podcast that the report that Williams had requested multiple grass-court wildcards first came. The biggest clue, however, came from official anti-doping records. In order to play on the WTA tour, retired players must re-enter the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) testing pool for six months. And Williams quietly re-entered the testing pool last December.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams shared in a statement. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
Meanwhile, the locker room in Paris is also thrilled. Following her recent French Open victory, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka told the press, “Just to see her around the sites and playing matches again… that’s definitely something I would be really excited about.” American standout Madison Keys echoed the sentiment: “Let’s be real, we all want to watch Serena play tennis. You literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court, so why not want more?”
Williams is currently focused on the Queen’s Club doubles draw. With Wimbledon beginning just three weeks later, the fans must be hoping to see if this doubles run translates into a singles wildcard.
