'Excited to be back': Serena announces her return to pro-tennis

Serena Williams last played professional tennis in 2022. (Getty Images: John Walton/PA Images)

Serena Williams has accepted a wildcard into the doubles at Queen's Club in London.

The 44-year-old's doubles partner will "be announced in due course".

Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis at the age of 44 after nearly four years away from the sport.

The 23-time grand slam singles champion has accepted a wildcard invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen's Club grass-court tournament in London, the WTA Tour has announced.

Williams also made a sponsored post with Nike on social media with the caption: "Guess everybody heard the news."

The post had a video with her phone ringing, during which she said: "I got to change my number."

The Queen's Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA has said Williams will play "with a partner to be announced in due course".

A return on grass will raise speculation that Williams also plans to compete at Wimbledon, which starts June 28. She has won seven singles titles at the All England Club.

"Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in a statement.

"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."

Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 US Open but at the time, Williams said she did not want to use the word "retiring" and instead declared that she was "evolving" away from tennis.

"Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she's pushing the boundaries and coming back," said Martina Navratilova, the previous oldest former world number one to launch a comeback, at 43 years and 10 months.

Serena Williams suggests Simona Halep's previous results should also be investigated after the Romanian is banned for four years.

Williams, who has also won 14 major doubles titles, became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis's mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier.

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka , who beat Williams in the 2018 US Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.

"It will bring people to watch tennis," Osaka said at the French Open.

"I'm going to be tuned in to the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it's going to be cool to see her on the grounds again."

Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with