When Serena Williams was seen leaving the Arthur Ashe Stadium in tears after a third-round exit at the 2022 US Open, everyone thought that she had bid farewell to the sport. Though she never announced an official retirement, she did admit to “evolving away” in order to focus on her family and business ventures. However, almost four years after her last competitive appearance, the 23-time Grand Slam champion is all set to make her much-awaited return.

Serena will be in action at the HSBC Championships, which is set to begin on June 8. It was confirmed on Monday that she will be entering the tournament as a doubles wildcard. The American herself confirmed her return through a statement where she described the HSBC Championships as the “perfect” event to begin this new chapter of her career.

“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,” she said in a statement.

Serena also released a video on social media platforms simply titled, “Good news travels fast”, indicating her return. In the end of the video, she says, “I gotta change my number” as the graphics appear on the screen that reads: “Guess everybody heard the news.”

The rumors around the 44-year-old’s return to the sport had begun to arise earlier this year, in February. This was because she had become eligible to compete once again on February 22 after spending six months in the anti-doping testing pool.

The conversations around the comeback had erupted after American sports journalist Jon Wertheim had recently claimed that Serena had submitted wildcard requests to tournaments for the upcoming grass swing. He had also claimed that she would be entering the doubles draw at the event rather than competing in singles action.

“I have heard there have been multiple wildcard requests for grass court season,” Wertheim had said on the Served Podcast with Andy Roddick.

Additionally, Wertheim had also said that Serena will be partnering with World No. 9, Victoria Mboko, at the Queen’s Club. He has so far been correct with the majority of his claims on Serena’s return, and it remains to be seen if his prediction about her partner will also turn out to be true.

“Whatever it is, it is. Maybe it’s not anything that is going to pan out. But it does look like she will be playing the grass season. What I have heard is that she will be playing at Queen’s Club doubles with Victoria Mboko,” he added.

Interestingly, this will be Serena’s first-ever appearance at the HSBC Championships. This is due to the fact that the tournament was strictly a men’s event during the 27 years she was constantly competing on the tour. The WTA had brought back the event to the tour in 2025, almost three years after the American had made her last competitive appearance.

Serena’s upcoming appearance won’t just mark her long return to tennis, but it will also be the first time that she will be competing at the Queen’s Club . That being said, there is a genuine possibility that she will be teaming up with Mboko for the doubles draw. While Serena has never mentioned Mboko in any of her previous interviews, the latter had recently revealed that the two have been in touch. 

Victoria Mboko had been in touch with Serena Williams amid comeback rumors

When asked about the rumors linking her to be Serena’s partner at Queen’s Club, Mboko didn’t confirm anything about the American’s return, but confirmed that the two have interacted.

“I’m very happy that me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice because I look up to her. I feel like if she’s ready to come back on her own terms then I feel like it’s up to her to announce that. Other than that, I don’t really have much to say. The moment is up to her when she is ready to come back, yeah, it’s up to her,” the Canadian had said after her second-round clash against Katerina Siniakova at the French Open.

The 19-year-old had grown up idolizing Serena, so she would undoubtedly be very excited if she gets a chance to pair with the American. Also, the youngster can turn out to be exactly the kind of partner that Serena needs on her return.

Mboko has rapidly risen through the ranks since last year. She had first sparked attention after clinching the title at the 2025 Montreal Masters, defeating four Grand Slam champions in the process. She had then captured the Hong Kong Open title in November and had finished the year ranked No. 18.

Mboko had broken into the top 10 earlier this year and has maintained her place since then. Despite being very active in the singles draw, she has also taken out time to feature in doubles. The World No. 9 has been involved in doubles action in five tournaments this season and has gained some valuable experience of competing in the format.

Will Mboko really go on to form a pair alongside Serena at the upcoming HSBC Championships? We will have to wait and see