After previously indicating she was stepping away from the sport, Serena Williams says she is "not retired" from tennis and the chances of her returning are "very high"; plus, more of the latest tennis results and news.
Serena Williams: "I'm not retired"
Speaking at a conference in San Francisco promoting her investment company, Serena Ventures, Serena Williams appeared to reverse earlier statements that hinted she would retire after the last grand slam tournament, NBC reported.
"I'm not retired," Williams said. "The chances [of a return] are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court."
Williams, 41, wrote an essay in August saying she was "evolving away from tennis," Fans took that to mean she was going to retire after the grand slam tournament in New York, and as such, star-studded crowds turned out to watch, and she received a lavish tribute before each match.
Back in September, Williams was in New York promoting her first children's book, The Adventures of Qai Qai, where she was repeatedly asked if she was considering returning to tennis. Appearing on Good Morning America, Williams was asked about a possible comeback, ESPN reported.
"I mean, you never know," Williams said. "I've just been saying that I think Tom Brady started a really cool trend."
She also appeared on The Tonight Show, where Host Jimmy Fallon asked Serena if there was a chance she could follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and make a return to her sport, the New York Post reported.
"You know what?" Serena said. "Tom Brady started an amazing trend."
How soon could Serena Williams come back?
Even though 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams says she is "not retired," she did, in fact, enter her name on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s Retired Players List on September 6--one day after the loss to Tomljanovic, tennis.com reported.
How soon could Williams come back to competition if she decided to follow what she called Tom Brady's trend and un-retire?
Pro tennis rules could delay comeback
According to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) website: "The players listed here have declared themselves retired from the sport and may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question."
According to tennis.com, if Williams wanted to compete in the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, for example, she must remove herself from the ITIA list by the end of the year at the latest.
Pegula and Gauff become the first 2 US women in Top 4 since Serena and Venus
Jessica Pegula, 28, from New York, defeated Maria Sakkari, of Greece, to win the WTA tennis tournament final match in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday. The victory moved her up two places to a career-best No. 3 on Monday, WGRZ reported.
Coco Gauff, 18, from Florida, who lost in the quarterfinals in Guadalajara, moved up from No. 7 to No. 4.
The last time two Americans were that high in the women’s tennis rankings was the week of Oct. 18, 2010, when Serena Williams was No. 2 and Venus Williams was No. 4. Both of the Williams sisters had already been ranked No. 1 previously.