Serena denies pending return despite re-entering anti-doping test pool

Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool but the 23-times Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move had anything to do with her making a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 US Open, was among the list of players in its testing pool, which requires individuals to provide their whereabouts at any given time, every day, and participate in random testing.

But as the story of 44-year-old Williams' inclusion on the list, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Athletic, gained traction and sparked talk about her potential return, the tennis great took to social media to deny a comeback was in her plans.

"Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy," Williams wrote on X.

Her agent did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters asking why the player had re-entered the testing pool.

Williams' name appears on the ITIA website's list of retired players and would be able to return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.

Last week former world number one Williams posted a series of photos on Instagram showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, whom she gave birth to in August 2023.

In August 2022, ahead of her final US Open, Williams announced in a Vogue article that she was "evolving away from tennis".

Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown that would have drawn her level with Australian Margaret Court, who holds the record.

The American came tantalisingly close to achieving that feat, featuring in four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.