Serena Williams has hinted of a possible return to the tennis court after confirming she is 'not retired.'
The 23-time Grand Slam champion - widely considered to be one of the greatest female players to ever grace a court - looked like she said goodbye to the sport at the US Open in September when she left the Arthur Ashe court in tears following defeat to Aija Tomljanovic.
However, Williams was speaking to the tech industry at the TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on Wednesday to promote her investment company, Serena Ventures.
On her second public appearance since her emotional farewell in New York, she was pressed on the chances of her fans seeing her back on court any time soon.
She told TechCrunch editor Jordan Crook: “I am not retired.
“The chances [of me returning] are very high. You can come to my house and [see] I have a court.”
That sent tongues wagging, and follows a similar statement when Williams appeared on The Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show in September, when speaking about NFL star Tom Brady's retirement at 45-years-old, only to return 40 days later.
At the time, Williams told Fallon that Brady had 'set an incredible trend.'
Williams admitted on the TechCrunch stage that she'd been overcome with an unusual feeling when she stepped back on a tennis court for the first time in a while.
“I didn’t even think about the whole retirement.
“I still haven’t really thought about it. But I did go on the court the other day and [realized] for the first time in my life that I’m not playing for a competition and that felt very weird,” Williams continued.
“It was like the first day of the rest of my life, and so far, I am enjoying it. But I’m still trying to find that balance.”