After nearly a four-year absence from the WTA Tour, Serena Williams officially makes her return to tennis next week at the HSBC Championships, held at Queen's Club in London.
The 23-time major champion confirmed her comeback last week following months of speculation, after reentering the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) drug-testing pool, a requirement in order to compete again.
Williams, 44, had initially denied a return -- "Omg yall I'm NOT coming back," she posted in December -- but made her reveal in a coordinated effort on social media with Nike and the tournament on Monday.
"Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in an announcement, sent from the tournament. "Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I'm excited to be back competing on one of the sport's most iconic stages."
She will play only doubles at the tournament, with Victoria Mboko. So, before the action gets underway in London, here's everything we know -- and don't know -- about Williams' return to the sport.
When is her first match?
The 500-level tournament has yet to announce the order of play, but the first round in doubles is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 8, and concludes on Wednesday, June 10. Williams and Mboko are slated to play Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in the first round.
Other pairs in the 16-team doubles field include top-seeded Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic, as well as Storm Hunter and Zhang Shuai.
Has anyone seen her play recently?
While even her sister Venus said she hadn't seen much of Williams on the court recently while commentating during the French Open for TNT, Alycia Parks, the current world No. 79, said she was practicing up to three times a week with her while in Florida during a stretch in the winter and early spring.
"She is in great shape," Parks told Tennis Majors in February. "So I think she would kill it on tour."
A clip from one of their practice sessions in early March went viral.
And on Thursday, footage from Williams' first practice session at Queen's Club nearly broke the internet. In the posted clips, Williams can be seen hitting and moving all over the court, with her ball-striking looking proficient and her signature backhand very much on display.
This is real life. @serenawilliams is BACK! 🐐#HSBCChampionships pic.twitter.com/hXsaabVAkB
— HSBC Championships (@QueensTennis) June 4, 2026
Who is her doubles partner Victoria Mboko?
Williams will be playing at Queen's Club with Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian. Currently ranked No. 9 in singles, Mboko didn't want to confirm the first reports about their impending partnership when asked last week at the French Open, and instead said she wanted to let Williams announce it "on her own terms." But she was effusive in her praise -- even saying Williams was her "idol" -- and said they texted one another on occasion.
"You know, me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice, because you know, I really look up to her," Mboko said. "I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very exciting."
And Mboko seemed thrilled to publicly confirm their pairing on Thursday with a photo from Queen's Club. "The Queen is back," Mboko wrote on Instagram. "An honor to share the court with one of the greatest athletes of all time this week. Even more excited to play doubles together! Tennis is pretty special."
Mboko -- who was born after Williams had already won seven major singles titles -- has earned two WTA trophies in her career, most notably the 1000-level Canadian Open last summer, but has never won in doubles. She reached two junior major doubles finals however in 2022, including at Wimbledon.
Why is Williams coming back?
Williams hasn't said much about that -- or even offered many details at all about her comeback -- at this point. However, she did leave the door open for a potential return when she stepped away in 2022.
In fact, she didn't even want to use the word "retire," and instead opted to say she was going to "evolve" from tennis. In her Vogue essay in which she announced the 2022 US Open would likely be her final tournament, she cited her desire to expand her family but made it clear she didn't want to leave the sport.
"I've been reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have to move on from playing tennis," Williams wrote. "... One thing I'm not going to do is sugarcoat this. I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I really wish I felt that way."
She then lamented that her decision was something her male peers didn't have to go through.
"If I were a guy, I wouldn't be writing this because I'd be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family," Williams said. "Maybe I'd be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity. Don't get me wrong: I love being a woman, and I loved every second of being pregnant with [oldest daughter] Olympia. ... But I'm turning 41 this month, and something's got to give."
And, while it seemed clear she was focused on her family, as well as other off-court interests and pursuits, Williams hesitated when asked by a reporter during her third-round run at the 2022 US Open if it would "definitively" be her final tournament.
"I've been pretty vague about it, right?" she said with a smile. "I'm going to stay vague because you never know."
She had been motivated during her comeback from her first pregnancy and maternity leave -- she returned to competition in 2018 just six months after giving birth -- to match Margaret Court's all-time major singles record at 24 and has spoken openly about her disappointment in not achieving that. But in an interview with Nike, her longtime sponsor, Williams said this return wasn't about wins or losses.
"I just want to have fun," she said. "I want to travel and I want to enjoy myself. I've always enjoyed tennis, but this time it's from a different angle. Every time I watched a tournament, I missed it. I miss the atmosphere. I miss the court."
Williams will presumably share more about her decision to return in the coming days and weeks, and will undoubtedly be asked about it in her news conferences at Queen's Club and beyond.
What's next for Williams after this tournament?
Perhaps the best question of all. Williams has provided few details about her comeback at this point, but it was announced on Friday that she would be playing doubles at the Berlin Tennis Open later this month.
"Every tournament I add to my schedule right now feels special, and Berlin is no exception," Williams said in an announcement from the tournament. "I'm excited to compete in front of the German fans and continue building momentum throughout the grass-court season."
Her doubles partner for the event has yet to be named. The tournament begins on June 15.
Beyond that, it is widely assumed Williams plans to play Wimbledon -- where she has won seven singles titles and six doubles titles with Venus. The tournament gets underway on June 29. As Williams currently doesn't have a ranking, she would need a wild card for entry at any event she would like to play. Wild cards for the grass-court major are expected to be announced on June 17. As a former champion, she should have no problems securing such a bid.
If Williams wants to play in one more tuneup tournament before Wimbledon, there are grass-court events in Bad Homburg and Eastbourne the week before the main draw starts at the All England Club. She played in the doubles draw in Eastbourne in 2022 and reached the semifinals with partner Ons Jabeur before having to withdraw due to a knee injury for Jabeur.
Of course, there are still many questions remaining. Will she play singles anywhere? Will she remain with Mboko or partner with someone else? Will she and Venus team up at Wimbledon? As is the case with much of this highly anticipated return, we simply don't know -- yet.