When Serena Williams penned her emotional farewell letter in 2022, she simply stated that she was “evolving away from tennis” as she left the door ajar for a possible return and we might just have received the biggest hint yet that she could make a comeback.

In fact, the tennis great refused to use the word “retirement” in her Vogue op-ed piece as she wrote: “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. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family.”

The 23-time Grand Slam winner played her last match at the 2022 US Open, but barely a month later she dropped a hint that she could still make a comeback.

During an event in San Francisco, she was adamant as she stated: “I am not retired.”

When told it sounded like she is “on the fence a little bit”, she replied: “The chances [of me returning] are very high. You can come to my house and [see] I have a court.”

Williams and husband Alexis Ohanian have grown their family as they welcomed their second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, in August 2023, nearly six years after the birth of their first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

And now three years after she “evolved away”, her name has returned to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA)’s International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP).

According to the ITIA, players on the IRTP need to inform the organisation about their whereabouts every day of the year through the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) ADAMS platform.

If you are on the list, it gives the ITIA permission to conduct no-notice, out-of-competition testing as part of its Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP).

The American remains on the ITIA’s retired list, but according to the organisation’s official website, players “may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question”.

That could suggest Williams plans on returning in 2026 or even in 2027.

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With sister Venus still active, there had been some suggestions the Williams sisters could team up in the women’s doubles at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

And there will be a host of tennis stars who would be happy to see her return as fellow great Novak Djokovic jokingly called on her to make a comeback earlier in 2025

After Williams introduced Maria Sharapova during the Russian’s induction at the Hall of Fame, the 24-time Grand Slam winner said: “Seeing Serena, you know, in any shape or form around tennis is great. You know, we miss her.

“And she still hasn’t officially retired, so I invite her. I challenge her because she’s such a great competitor. So when somebody challenges her, she never refuses. So I challenge Serena. Come back on a Tour next year.”