Andy Roddick has suggested that Serena Williams’s rumoured comeback could go beyond a reported doubles outing at Queen’s this month.
Williams, 44, is said to have asked for a wildcard entry at Queen’s to play alongside 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, per The Telegraph. The news comes four years after Williams last played professionally, when she lost a third-round match at the US Open.
The American, widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, re-entered the tour’s drug-testing pool last August, as speculation grew around a potential comeback from the former world No 1, who holds 23 grand-slam singles titles – the most of any women’s player in the Open Era.
And that comeback could take place on the grass of Queen’s Club in London, where the Wimbledon warm-up tournament begins on 8 June.
Speaking on his podcast on Wednesday, former major champion Roddick said: “I don’t think as soon as you re-enter doping protocols […] Maybe you don’t know if you’re coming back or not, but at the very least you’re thinking really hard about it.
“And I know this isn’t a pragmatic decision; I’m sure there’s emotion. I’m sure there’s the champion’s mentality, ego, and like ‘what if’, and all of this stuff. If you enter doping protocols, you’re looking to come back, or at least you’re looking at the option to come back.
“If you do that and you’re Serena Williams, I’ve got to think: is she going to be faster than when she left? I don’t know. I mean, she looks in fantastic shape. And I think you could say her best chance of lightning in a bottle in this comeback is that it’s on grass at Wimbledon.
“I think we’re going to see her play singles. And I do think the only thing that is a little bit of a doubles-motivated thing, as her sister [Venus] is also not retired yet… Would you do it for your sister, for one last run at the US Open or something like that? Yes, and I said that eight months ago. So, that’s the only caveat.
“I don’t think she plays only doubles at Wimbledon. I think she’s going to play singles, but I think there’s a half a chance she plays singles before that.
“I just don’t see, at this point in her life where she’s in her 40s coming back… How many shots in the basket are you going to have on your best surface in singles again, if that’s your intent? I don’t think she can skip Wimbledon this year in singles. I think if you’re going to come back, I think you got to go.
“At this point, I’d be more surprised if she didn’t come back just to put a bow on it. I think we’re going to see her play professional tennis. I will put it in my veins. I want Serena back on the tennis court. That would be unbelievable. I hope it happens!”
Williams is a seven-time singles champion at Wimbledon, where she is also a six-time doubles winner.
Indeed, Williams was incredibly successful at all four slams in both the singles and doubles. At the Australian Open, she secured seven singles crowns and four in the doubles; she won the French Open singles three times and the doubles twice; and she is a six-time US Open singles winner, with two doubles titles to boot. Many of her doubles titles were won with her sister Venus, a fellow great of the sport.
Furthermore, she won the mixed-doubles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1998.
