Serena Williams sets internet on fire with speculation on her return

This could be the mother of all comebacks, Super Mom Serena Williams attempting a return to professional tennis. Three years after her retirement from professional tennis when she waved goodbye to fans at the US Open in New York, internet was flooded with ‘breaking news’ on Serena.

Even if this be just a gimmick, it is not fiction. On her personal X handle, Serena had scoffed at the mention of a return to professional tennis. “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Serena posted on her handle past midnight, India time, Tuesday.

 

Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) December 2, 2025

 

Fact is, rumour mills have been set in motion. The rotor blades of her possible return in 2026 are now at a high RPM (revolutions per minute) as news of Serena Williams registering herself for the testing pool under ITIA has been officially confirmed. On Tuesday, it became clear, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, now aged 44, has now filed the paperwork which sets in motion a possible return to pro tennis in 2026.

When and how Serena registered herself back in 2025 with the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) is not clear. To remind readers, in September 2022, she had made her retirement official and was no longer required to provide details of herself in the ‘whereabout clause’ wherein she could have been randomly tested at any point of time. That requires an athlete providing details on where he or she is (location), so that random testing can be facilitated.

It is well-known, in the past, during her active playing days, Serena has posted on travails of having to wake up at 4am and offer a ‘pee sample.” That she is ready to again go through it, by way of registering herself in the testing pool is interesting. Yes, her name still figures in the list of retired players in the ITIA website. For her name to be scratched from that list may take a few months. If at all she is going to be reinstated in the list of active athletes, it will happen in 2026.

For those who follow tennis and what professional players have to do to bounce back into competition, it is a sort of first step to get back into the testing pool. It is well known, the ITIA came in for massive flak in 2024 over two top names testing positive --- Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek. How their cases were fast-tracked, rather surreptitiously, lead to a lot of heartburn.

All that is history, with the 2025 tennis season now over. Coming back to Serena Williams, she still grabs headlines. That is her marquee value even today and how the Super Mom can still change the narrative on social media. Her recent podcasts with sister Venus Williams came in for fulsome praise. Public speaking and podcasts come naturally to both Venus and Serena. For the record, elder sister Venus has still not officially retired. If at all they want to come back and play doubles for fun, do not rubbish the very mention. After all, the way doubles tennis is being treated by guardians of the sport is not a good one.

Interestingly, what is relevant in the present context, videos of Serena Williams at practice, have been seen. The Serena Williams one saw in 2022 at the US Open farewell and the present form are different. She had massive health issues and weight loss was advised by her doctors. Given Serena’s history of dealing with medical issues, she is now on the controversial weight loss pill (GLP-1) drug which comes in famous brand names of Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. After the birth of her second child in 2023, Serena had to lose weight. That she is using an GLP-1 medicine under prescription is well-known, as Serena had discussed the subject in public domain.

One cannot jump to any conclusion Serena Williams has resorted to a pill to lose weight. In medical jargon: “The GLP-1 drugs are a class of medications that mimic the glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone to help lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes and promote weight loss.” 

Today these drugs are prescribed by doctors for those who are dealing with obesity. Some even see it as a better option to bariatric surgery. For those who will questions whether Serena Williams’ speculated return after weight-loss is permissible, it’s all fair under the rules now. She had taken TUE (theraupetic use  exemption) before as well for other medication. These GLP-1 and SGLT-2 drugs are now prescribed commonly. Surely, in the United States of America, it does not come minus a prescription.

So, whether Serena is coming back or not, we will know soon. No retired athlete would want to re-enter the testing pool just for fun. It ain’t fun, actually.