Serena Williams has refused to rule out a return to tennis, having retired from the sport in 2022.
Elina Svitolina would love Williams to return, which is seemingly a real possibility after she re-entered the drug testing pool last year.
Former WTA number one Williams denied she was making a comeback, but has now left the door open for a possible dramatic return.
Williams boasts 23 Grand Slam singles titles, along with two mixed doubles titles and 14 doubles titles with her sister Venus Williams.
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Martina Navratilova suggests ‘possible’ Serena Williams and Venus Williams doubles win
Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport have now shared their opinions on the potential comeback on Tennis Channel.
Navratilova said of Williams recently hitting balls on the court: “If you’re having a good time doing it, why not?
“And then I think she’s at the point of, let me see how well I can still play and test it out. And her body, she looks fantastic.
“She looks much fitter than she did when she actually did play. It gets harder when you get older. But if anybody can do it, it’s Serena.”
And Davenport commented: “She did the documentary. It was about six episodes, or a few episodes about coming back.
“And one of the topics in one of them was what a struggle it was for her after giving birth the first time, to Olympia, of getting back in playing shape.
“And there was a part of an episode dedicated to that, and what a struggle it was. I mean, she looks so great right now, she probably helps her body and helps her moving around.
“So let’s see. We hope to see her back in any court. Maybe it’s doubles. Imagine if that was singles and she was working up to possibly making a singles run at the US Open.
“That would be electric all summer long on the hard courts, we’re here for that. And she still has Venus out here playing, so that’s another bonus for her.”
Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman then noted: “Would love to see them get back together on the doubles court,” to which Navratilova said: “Crazy stuff.”
Weissman added: “And I think they could win,” with Navratilova replying: “Possible, possible,” and Davenport responding: “But we haven’t seen her level really yet. So of course, they’re one of the greatest doubles teams of all time, but we haven’t seen them practice.”
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Martina Navratilova would welcome Serena Williams comeback
Venus Williams has already made her dramatic return to the court, coming back last year after a 16-month break.
Williams made a successful return to the WTA Tour, with legendary duo Navratilova and Davenport having also discussed her sister’s potential return more broadly.
Navratilova said: “She’s been great in many things. She’s also very good at deflecting, maybe she should be a politician. Talk about a non-answer, answer. She would not answer.
“You only go back into the anti-doping pool because you want to play something. But she’s keeping it tight. She’s playing that really tight to her vest. It would be great if she played.”
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And Davenport added: “I mean that’s the answer, right? There’s no reason you would go back into the doping protocol unless you were coming back.
“Probably wanted to announce it and make her own splash. Unfortunately, that list is made public. She took her name out of the list in September of 2022, she put her name back in that list in, I thought it was October, it’s actually August of 2025.
“What does that mean when you put your name back in the list? One hour every day, you’ve got to log into your app and give doping officers where you’re going to be, and they can knock at your door during that hour, and you’ve got to test.
“You would never do that to yourself if you were not coming back. She’s actually eligible I believe by the end of February, if she continues to stay in that protocol.
“So the chances are very great we’re going to see her, or she at least wants to give herself a chance to be able to go back to tennis.”
It would be a monumental moment for the sport, with tennis fans certain to welcome back the legendary figure with open arms.
And a US Open doubles venture with Venus arguably represents the perfect opportunity, but unfortunately that means fans would need to wait all summer to see the superstar in action once again.
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