Serena Williams will return to competitive tennis at the Queen's Club Championships in London starting June 8, 2026, after nearly four years away from the sport [1, 2, 3]. The 44-year-old legend has been granted a wildcard entry to the women's doubles draw, marking her first WTA event since the 2022 US Open [1, 2, 4, 3]. Williams confirmed her comeback with a social media post captioned "Good news travels fast" [1, 5].
Williams is expected to partner with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, currently ranked 9th in singles. Mboko called Williams her "idol" and expressed excitement about playing together, adding, "Me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice" [1, 5, 3, 6].
Williams last competed professionally at the 2022 US Open before stepping away from tennis to focus on personal matters, describing her departure as "evolving away" from the sport. She has never officially retired [1, 2, 4, 7, 8]. In 2025, Williams re-entered the sport's anti-doping testing pool, sparking speculation about a comeback [1, 7, 9].
Williams has been one of the most successful tennis players in history. She holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, the most in the Open era for women's singles [1, 3, 10]. She spent 319 weeks ranked world No. 1 and won 73 WTA singles titles over her career [1, 10]. Williams is also a seven-time Wimbledon singles and doubles champion [1, 6].
The Queen's Club tournament is a WTA 500 event considered a key Wimbledon warm-up. Wimbledon begins three weeks after Queen's, where Williams would likely require another wildcard to compete [1, 3, 8].
Williams is a mother of two, having given birth to her second child in 2023 [5, 11]. Her sister Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, remains active on tour and played as a wildcard at the Australian Open in January [2, 4, 7].
Sports figures and tennis players have expressed enthusiasm for Williams' return. Former star John McEnroe said he was "semi-shocked" by her decision to return at this stage. Current players Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka called the news "very good" and inspiring for tennis [5, 11, 6].
Serena Williams said, "Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter. 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" [1].
The Queen's Club event begins June 8, marking Williams' competitive return to professional tennis after nearly four years away [1, 12, 8].
