Serena Williams makes massive move hinting at incredible comeback at 44

A momentous return to the WTA Tour for Serena Williams might be on the cards after a recent piece of news.

Williams retired from professional tennis at the 2022 US Open. The 23-time Grand Slam champion's ending on home soil in New York was among the most emotional and memorable moments in tennis history.

Regarded by many as the greatest female player in tennis history, Williams has been missed since retiring, even though the WTA Tour is in a great place because of players like Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and others.

Venus Williams, the older sister of Serena, continued her own legendary career after being away for over 12 months at this year's Citi Open, Cincinnati Open, and Canadian Open, producing a high level despite being 45.

When Serena retired over three years ago, she removed herself from the list of those who can be randomly drug-tested by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) in the body's attempts to keep the sport as clean as possible.

Williams has applied to be reinstated to tennis by being added back into the ITIA's testing pool, laying the groundwork for a sensational story later this year.

Retired players can return to professional tennis only after being in the testing pool for 6 months. That rule is in place to prevent bad actors from using prohibited substances during their preparation before matches.

The scale of Serena's comeback plans is currently unclear. It is possible that she is doing this because Venus plans to retire, and the sisters want to say goodbye together at the 2026 US Open.

However, a return to singles cannot be ruled out at this stage. The 44-year-old has previously admitted that she misses tennis like crazy and tries to find new goals and challenges to compensate for losing the competitive energy the sport gave her.

Serena Williams has two daughters, Olympia and Adira, with her husband Alexis Ohanian. Olympia, the older of the children, has played with Serena before, but the tennis legend admits she is not massively interested in the sport.

Adira practiced with her mother for the first time a few days ago. Williams posted photos of them playing, and the seven-time Wimbledon singles champion said she was sharing her passion for the sport with Adira.

When Williams announced that she would be retiring from tennis at the 2022 US Open, growing her family with Ohanian was one of the reasons she cited. Olympia was born in 2017, a few months after the tennis legend won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant.

That achievement in Melbourne remains incredible. Her return to the WTA circuit after being on maternity leave also inspired other players to have children and successfully return at a later date.

Earlier this year, the WTA announced a maternity fund, funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. It gives assurance to players who want to plan on being mothers while still playing.