Serena Williams has shut down rumours about a tennis comeback after registering with the sport’s anti-doping body, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The 23-time Grand Slam champion is considered to be one of the greats of the game and has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 US Open.
The 44-year-old said at the time she did not want to use the word “retiring” and instead said she was “evolving” away from tennis.
However, in a social media post on Tuesday, Williams wrote: “Omg y’all I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”
Athletes who decide to return to testing need to provide information about their time and locations when they are available to give samples
They also need to complete six months of testing before they are allowed to return to competition.
Williams’ older sister, Venus, returned to tennis in July at the age of 45 after almost two years away from the tour, and she also never announced her retirement.
At the US Open, Venus became the oldest player to play singles at a Grand Slam tournament since 1981.
Venus, a seven-time major singles champion, has spoken previously about wanting Serena to join her back on tour. They claimed 14 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair.
Serena Williams holds up the trophy after winning the Wimbledon women’s singles final in 2015
Williams, who played her first professional tennis match in 1995, admitted that the primary motivation for initially calling it quits three years ago was her desire to have a second child.
She gave birth to Adira River Ohanian in August 2023, her second daughter, after welcoming her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., almost six years earlier with her husband, Alexis Ohanian.
Williams was in the early stages of pregnancy with Olympia when she won the 2017 Australian Open, moving just one Grand Slam singles title behind the record held by Margaret Court.
She reached four more finals on her return from maternity leave, two at Wimbledon and two at the US Open, but was beaten in straight sets on each occasion.
Williams, who won her first major title in 1999 at the US Open as a 17-year-old, told Vogue in 2022 when she revealed plans to walk away from tennis: “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want (Court’s) record.
“The way I see it, I should have had 30-plus grand slams. I had my chances after coming back from giving birth.
“Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I didn’t show up the way I should have or could have. But I showed up 23 times, and that’s fine. Actually, it’s extraordinary.”
