Serena Williams may not be coming back to the WTA Tour after all.
Williams played her last match at the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion appeared to have hung her rackets up for good, until speculation that Williams could be returning started after she re-entered the drug testing pool and has been back practicing on the court again.
Someone who knows Williams very well is Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached her for 10 years and has admitted his doubts over whether she could actually be coming back.
Patrick Mouratoglou claims Serena Williams ‘will not come back to be number 20’
Mouratoglou previously admitted he would not be surprised if Williams returned to tennis, but he has now slightly weighed back on those comments when speaking to Spazio Tennis.
The Frenchman revealed that he is still in touch with Williams, and Mouratoglou claimed that he is not even sure if she knows whether she will be making a comeback yet.
Serena Williams would finish 2026 ranked — in the world if she came out of retirement
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Mouratoglou explained that Williams would not come back if she is not able to compete at the highest level and suggested that will currently be the debate she is having in her mind.
“Serena, we are still in touch of course we are. Is she going to come back? I don’t know, I don’t think she has taken the decision yet,” said Mouratoglou. “I think she was happy to be super fit, happy to be able to practice and then it’s a decision she will take or not.
“I cannot say, because I don’t know. I don’t even know if she knows. I think she’s still wondering how she progresses, because Serena will not come back to be number 20.
“If she comes back it will be to be the best she can and the best she can is used to being number one, so it’s not her mindset to play some matches here and there.
“If she comes back it will be to perform, so she will have to judge if she can perform or not at the highest level and I guess this is how she’s going to take this decision.”
Sum up Serena Williams’ career in one word
How many Grand Slam titles did Serena Williams win with Patrick Mouratoglou as her coach?
Mouratoglou started working with Williams after she suffered a shock first round exit at the 2012 French Open, and they enjoyed a lot of success together.
Williams won 23 Grand Slam titles in her career, and 10 of those victories were when she was coached by Mouratoglou.
This final of those Grand Slam victories came in 2017, when Serena beat her older sister Venus to win the Australian Open title.
| Grand Slam | How many Serena Williams won with Patrick Mouratoglou |
| Australian Open | 2 |
| French Open | 2 |
| Wimbledon | 3 |
| US Open | 3 |
| Total | 10 |
There is now a lot of speculation surrounding when she could potentially return, with Jessica Pegula predicting Serena to come back at Wimbledon.
If the now 44-year-old does make her comeback at Wimbledon then she will hope for a better result than her last appearance, where Williams lost to Harmony Tan in the first round.
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