She is the living icon who will arguably go down as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time. Some sportsmen or women, such as Michael Jordan, Billie Jean King and Muhammad Ali, will go down in the annals of history as being pioneers and legends of their sport, known all over the world. Serena Williams certainly fits into that category. Williams lifted 23 grand slam titles in an illustrious career that saw become the benchmark for the modern women’s game.
Along with sister Venus, the Williams sisters dominated tennis for a long time, often meeting in grand slam finals. Their success was even made into a movie starring Will Smith as their father, who predicted they would become legends of the sport from a very early age as he coached and guided their early careers.
However, all good things must come to an end and in 2022 Serena Willaims announced she would be retiring due to family reasons. However, there have been murmurings she is considering a sensational return to the sport, which would delight fans around the world. So, is there a return on the cards?
Williams to come back in 2024?
The last game of Williams’ career was at the US Open, a three set defeat to Ajla Tomljanović in the third round. We all knew before that event that Williams would be stepping away from the court, saying she didn’t see it as a retirement, but rather an “evolution” in that she was evolving away from tennis.
However, only five months after that defeat, Williams revealed that she had been having second thoughts about moving away from the game that had made her such a star. She said she still felt she could play at a “very, very, very high level”. There is no doubt she is an extremely good athlete, and of course if she feels she has the capability to return, nobody should doubt her.
Williams also admitted there that she definitely misses the competitive nature of being on the tour, even going as far as saying “There’s no way I shouldn’t be playing professional tennis”.
But is a return realistic?
It is all well and good saying that you still feel you can compete and you are still in good enough shape physically to play professional tennis, but what about the reasons Williams called it a day in the first place?
The sport has dominated her life, Serena turned professional at the age of 14 in 1995, and has also shown interest in numerous other ventures. Williams has been heavily involved in lots of charity work, activism and fashion, and has also invested in sports teams such as NWSL’s Angel City FC and has a minority investment in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
She can now concentrate on those ventures and more, with more free time on her hands now that she isn’t hitting balls on a daily basis. Williams admitted she is enjoying spending more time with her family and concentrating on other businesses and “finding her way”. Will her way lead her back to the tennis court for one last hurrah? Time will tell.
