Highlights
- Serena Williams, 44, confirms tennis comeback via wild card at London’s HSBC Championships doubles draw
- She’ll compete on grass at Queen’s Club June 8-14, her first match in nearly four years
- Williams re-entered anti-doping testing pool in December 2025, clearing the way for her return
She said she wasn’t coming back. Then she entered the drug-testing pool. Then she started posting serve videos on Instagram. And now? Serena Williams has made it official.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has received a wild card to compete in doubles at Queen’s Club in London — her first tournament in over three years. The tennis comeback the sport has been holding its breath for is actually happening.
Williams’ return will kick off at the HSBC Championships, a WTA 500 event running June 8 through 14 on the iconic grass courts of The Queen’s Club. Her doubles partner has yet to be announced.
THE QUEEN RETURNS 👑
Serena Williams is BACK & set for doubles at the #HSBCChampionships!@WTA | @serenawilliams pic.twitter.com/lohvVo7cEy
— HSBC Championships (@QueensTennis) June 1, 2026“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement to the Lawn Tennis Association. “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.”
Not exactly a low-key setting for a comeback. Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion and also won six doubles titles alongside her sister Venus. Wimbledon begins just over three weeks after Queen’s Club wraps — and the timing is not lost on anyone.
The road back wasn’t entirely smooth. Back in December, reports surfaced that Williams had re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Association’s anti-doping testing pool. She immediately shot the chatter down on X, posting, “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-.”
Yeah, about that.
Re-entry to the testing pool requires a six-month cooling period before officially regaining eligibility, and Williams was first cleared to compete on February 22, 2026. She’d been posting practice clips and serving footage on social in the months since, but stayed tight-lipped about a formal return — until today.
WTA Tournament Director Laura Robson didn’t hold back her excitement, saying: “Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, and we’re delighted that she will be making her return to tennis at the LTA’s HSBC Championships. Women’s tennis made a historic return to The Queen’s Club last year, and now we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue — it’s very exciting for the tournament and the fans.”
The 44-year-old hasn’t been exactly idle since walking away from the sport in 2022. She’s built a business empire, became a spokesperson for telehealth company Ro, and starred in a commercial for the brand during Super Bowl LX earlier this year, saying she lost 34 pounds on Zepbound.
She’s also been watching her big sister closely. Elder sister Venus has continued to play professional tournaments in her 40s, becoming the oldest woman to win a professional tennis match in over 20 years at the Mubadala Citi DC Open last summer.
Serena responded to one of Venus’ US Open performances with a heartfelt tribute on social media. “Strength, courage, determination, class, perseverance, inspiration… there’s not enough words to describe how proud I am of you @VenusWilliams,” Serena captioned. “P.S. I hope to be like you.”
The HSBC Championships event also pays the second-highest prize money for a WTA 500 event anywhere in the world, with a 35% increase this year. Sixty-two thousand fans showed up to the 2025 edition — one of the highest attendances at a standalone WTA event on the tour. Imagine those numbers with Serena on the draw.
As for what this all means for Wimbledon? Nobody’s saying it out loud yet. But nobody has to. Williams holds the women’s Open Era record for Grand Slam tournament victories, spent 319 weeks atop the WTA rankings, and is the only player to complete a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.
She’s not just a wildcard in the doubles draw. She’s the whole conversation.
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