Serena Williams confirms her comeback to tennis with Queen’s doubles wild card

By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Tennis Correspondent, Paris

Serena Williams’ comeback to tennis has been confirmed, with the 44-year-old playing doubles at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club next week.

The 23-time grand slam singles champion’s imminent return has been touted since it was revealed in December she had re-entered the anti-doping programme – a prerequisite to play on the tour again.

She has been eligible since February but has chosen the British grass-court season to step back on to the match court in what will be one of the biggest sports stories of the year.

Williams has not played since a glittering farewell at the US Open in 2022, although she pointedly avoided using the word retirement, instead saying she was “evolving away” from tennis.