Tennis’ resident superstar Serena Williams has teased making a comeback to the sport at 42-years-old – as she joked on social media she’s ready to hit some balls.

Tennis fans are wondering what Serena Williams is teasing after she said she wants to “hit some balls”.

Williams, 42, has hinted at a comeback 18 months after she turned her back on the sport. The tennis icon said she wasn’t retiring from the sport back in 2022, telling a press conference in San Francisco: “I am not retired, the chances [of a return] are very high.”

And she has now teased a comeback, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I’m ready to hit some balls again.” However, some cheeky fans questioned what she meant by that.

“That didn’t sound right,” one fan joked. While a second said: “I took that in a whole different direction until I realised it was the Serena Williams saying it!”

“This is how powerful the Challengers score is,” a third joked referencing the hit tennis film. And another added: “You and me both…”

Serena Williams last played a tennis match in 2022 (Image: Getty Images for Balmain)
Williams last played professional tennis at the 2022 US Open, where she was dumped out of the third round by Ajla Tomljanovic. The icon had been given a lavish tribute ahead of each clash at Flushing Meadows.

After the tournament, writing in Vogue, Williams admitted she didn’t want to think about retirement: “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.

“I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”