Don’t Count Her Out: Serena Williams Says She’s “Not Retired,” Chances of a Return to the Tennis Court are “Very High”

Tennis icon Serena Williams has hinted at a possible return to the sport after just recently hanging up her racket.

The 41-year-old sat down with TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, where she boldly proclaimed, “I’m not retired.”

“The chances [of me returning] are very high,” Williams said. “You can come to my house and [see]. I have a court.”

This revelation comes as a welcome surprise to her fans. The 23-time Grand Slam winner has dominated the game of tennis for 27 years. However, after August’s U.S. Open, the mother and wife admitted she was “evolving away” from tennis.

During the chat with TechCrunch over the weekend, Williams admitted that adjusting to life outside of playing professionally has been challenging for her. She explained walking onto her home tennis court “felt really weird.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams)

This isn’t the first time Williams has toyed around with the idea of getting back to the court. Last month, during an appearance on Good Morning America, Williams said, “you never know” when speaking about possibly coming out of retirement. She even noted Tom Brady’s reversing his retirement was a “really cool trend” for pro athletes.

Williams initially stated that she wanted to end her tennis career to spend more time with her daughter, 5-year-old Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., and her husband. After she gave birth in 2017, she lost several matches because her focus was no longer on the sport but more on her family.

“I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my entire life, that it’s time to do something different for me and also work on other things,” she said last month in an interview with actor Bradley Cooper.

It remains to be seen when and if Serena Williams will return to tennis. Whenever she decides, her supporters will be eagerly waiting.