Serena Williams Confirms Long-Awaited Return to Tennis: ‘Good News Travels Fast’

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Tennis star Serena Williams confirmed her return to the court after a years-long hiatus with a video posted to social media Monday.

That morning, the official account for the HSBC Championships announced that Williams would enter the doubles tournament. The tournament, as noted in a report from The Athletic, is viewed as a “warm-up” to the Wimbledon Championships in London.

“THE QUEEN RETURNS,” the tweet read. “Serena Williams is BACK & set for doubles at the #HSBCChampionships!”

Around the same time, Williams posted a video on her own account. The video began with a shot of a bench on a tennis court as a phone rang. Various other tones repeatedly went off on the phone, causing Williams to walk into frame and take a seat on the bench.

“Guess everybody heard the news,” text read in the next shot.

Williams then joked, “I gotta change my number.”

The Athletic’s report broke down the timeline of events leading to Monday’s announcement:

Williams, 44, became eligible for competition Feb. 22. She had to spend six months in tennis’ anti-doping testing pool to return, and when Williams’ name was seen in that pool last December, Williams posted on X: “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”

But during an interview on the “Today” show in January, Williams was offered the chance to end speculation about her return. Instead, she laughed and responded: “If I want to put it to bed … Listen, I want to go to bed — it’s early.”

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