Tennis is Fun Again (Serena Williams is Back)!

Get the Honey Deuces—or, well, Pimm’s Lemonades—out! For the first time in four years—aka since Serena Williams announced her retirement in August 2022—the tennis legend (and overall goddess) will be making a grand return to compete in this Monday’s HSBC Championships in West London, and I, for one, can’t fucking wait!!!

Williams, 44, announced Monday that she is coming back to play as a wild-card entry in the doubles competition next week, and will be facing Canada’s Victoria Mboko. “I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages,” Williams announced of her comeback. “Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter.” Agreed, and as the official HSBC Championships’ social media put it: THE QUEEN RETURNS. 

The G.O.A.T is BACK 🐐@serenawilliams is officially returning to the stage 💚

Watch Serena’s return at the #HSBCChampionships, Queen’s Club from June 8th! pic.twitter.com/aNSswV7bjP

— wta (@WTA) June 1, 2026

 

Williams heralded in the announcement early Monday morning, posting to Twitter a short clip of a phone buzzing and ringing on a green bench in a court—and answered by a Williams holding a racquet. “Guess everybody heard the news” displays on a black screen—before cutting out with a Nike swoosh. 

It’s not entirely certain whether Williams will also be participating in other tennis events beyond next week, such as Wimbledon—which starts at the end of the month—or the U.S. Open, which happens in August. And all this comes as a huge pivot from her stance in December, when she addressed rumors of her return on Twitter, writing, “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back.” 

Clearly not! And for good reason. Before retiring, Williams dominated the sport with more than 100 official career titles, including four Olympic Gold medals, seven Wimbledon titles, and six U.S. Open titles. She also won 23 Grand Slam titles—her first as a 17-year-old, her last at 35 and pregnant—and top of all of this, regularly challenged the sexist bullshit she’d have to face. On one occasion, when asked about being one of the greatest “female” athletes of all time, she replied:  “I prefer the word ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time.’”

Speaking to the New York Times, Mboko, 25 years Williams’ junior, said she anticipates the competition, saying “I really look up to her. I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very, it’s very exciting.” I’ll say! 

In Williams’ retirement essay—which she published in Vogue in August 2022—she openly addressed the challenges she was facing as a parent and athlete, explaining that ultimately, it was the reason why she was stepping down. “I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this.” She added that if she were a male athlete, she also might do the winning and playing while her partner took care of the “physical labor” that comes with building a family. “Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity,” she wrote.

Alas, as things turns out, there’s nothing more Tom Brady than backing out of retirement. Except, in this scenario… we’re actually rooting for her.