TENNIS: Serena denies pending return despite re-entering anti-doping test pool

Serena Williams Re-Entered Tennis Anti-Doping Pool, Denies Comeback Plans

Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool, but the 23-time Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move signals a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open, is now listed in its testing pool. This requires players to provide daily whereabouts information and submit to random out-of-competition testing.

Rumors of a potential comeback spread quickly after The Athletic first reported Williams’ inclusion on the list earlier on Tuesday. However, the tennis legend took to social media to clarify her intentions.

“Omg y’all I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams wrote on X.

Her agent did not immediately respond to Reuters’ inquiry about her reasons for re-entering the testing pool.

Williams’ name appears on the ITIA website’s list of retired players, meaning she could return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.

Last week, the former world number one shared a series of Instagram photos showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, born in August 2023.

In August 2022, ahead of her final U.S. Open, Williams told Vogue that she was “evolving away from tennis.”

Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown to match Australian Margaret Court’s record. The American came close to achieving that milestone, reaching four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017. -Frank Pingue/Reuters