Venus Williams Has Surprising Reaction to Serena Williams’ Tennis Comeback

Serena Williams told us this could happen.

In August 2022, Williams covered Vogue. In her accompanying essay, she wrote, “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Williams last played professional tennis in the US Open in September 2022 — bowing out in the Round of 32 in singles, while she and Venus Williams lost in the Round of 64 in doubles. Nearly four years later, Williams, 44, has evolved back into a professional tennis player.

She announced Monday that she will return for the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London next week.

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in an announcement from the tournament, per ESPN. “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.”

Venus Williams, an all-time great in her own right, had a surprising reaction to her sister’s triumphant comeback on TNT’s broadcast from Roland-Garros on Tuesday. When asked if Serena came to her months ago to say she’d gotten the itch again, Venus gave a fascinating glimpse into what actually happened.

“No, it didn’t happen like that,” Venus said. “I think it was more me bullying her to come — no, not at all. Not at all. I think she hits every now and then. I never see her on the court that often, so I don’t know when she’s been practicing, honestly. I’m honest. I don’t know how her form is.”

She continued, “But what I will tell you is that she could not hit for four months, and I’ll be hitting, and she’ll come out and grab a racket and running shoes and just hit a ton out of the ball without ever hitting. It’s incredible. So the quality of her stroke is, obviously, there. She’s, I think, a little bit of a natural. She has a pretty good record. She knows what she’s doing. She’s very tenacious, so I’m not worried about how she’s gonna play, even though I really haven’t seen her play. It’s so crazy.”

Serena Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion — the most of any woman in the Open Era — and she and Venus won 14 Grand Slam titles together in doubles. Venus also has seven Grand Slam singles titles to her name.

Last August, Venus Williams became the first 45-year-old to compete at the US Open since 1981, per ESPN, and she has continued playing WTA events in doubles and singles throughout 2026.

At Queen’s Club, Serena Williams will compete as a wild card in doubles with 19-year-old Canadian phenom Victoria Mboko. There has been speculation that Queen’s Club is a tune-up for Wimbledon, but her only confirmed appearance at this point is at the HSBC Championships.