SAN FRANCISCO – Serena Williams on Monday said she has not retired from tennis and that the chances of her returning are “very high” after she previously indicated that she would step away from the sport after the US Open in September.
“I am not retired,” the American said at a conference in San Francisco while promoting her investment company, Serena Ventures.
“The chances (of a return) are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court.”
Williams, 41, said she was “evolving away from tennis” in an essay in August and, while she did not confirm the US Open as her farewell event, she was given lavish tributes before each match in New York and waved an emotional goodbye after losing in the third round.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who took the tennis world by storm as a teenager and is considered by some as the greatest of all time, said not preparing for a tournament after the US Open – which she won six times – did not feel natural to her.
“I still haven’t really thought about (retirement),” Williams said.
“But I did wake up the other day and go on the court and (considered) for the first time in my life that I’m not playing for a competition, and it felt really weird.
“It was like the first day of the rest of my life and I’m enjoying it, but I’m still trying to find that balance.”
Williams had previously teased that she could possibly return in 2023, saying that she had “always liked Australia” in reference to the Australian Open – the first Grand Slam of the year. The 2017 title – her seventh in Melbourne – is her most recent major victory.
“Tennis has been a fundamental part of my life, I can’t imagine being completely distant from it. I don’t see a future without tennis, but I really have no idea what role I could play,” she said in September.
Separately, Rafael Nadal will return to competition at next week’s Paris Masters before taking his place at the season-ending ATP Finals, his coach Carlos Moya said.
The Spaniard has struggled with injuries in 2022, capturing his 14th French Open title while playing with pain-killing injections to deal with a chronic foot injury and pulling out of Wimbledon owing to an abdominal problem.
Following his defeat by Frances Tiafoe at the US Open in September, he said he needed to “fix things” and was unsure about when he would play again.
Nadal, who has won a men’s record 22 Grand Slam titles, partnered Roger Federer in a doubles match at the Laver Cup in September before pulling out of the tournament. He also took time off for the birth of his first child with wife Mery Perello on Oct 8.
Moya confirmed that Nadal would use the Masters 1000 event in Bercy, which the world No. 2 has never won, as part of his preparations for the ATP’s finale in Turin from Nov 13-20.
“Before arriving in Turin, you have to play matches in Paris, which are similar,” he told IB3 TV.
“Rafa is competitive wherever he is and we go with hope and illusion.” REUTERS
