Savannah Guthrie suffered an awkward interaction with Serena Williams during Wednesday’s episode of the Today show while asking the tennis star about a potential return to the courts.
During the episode, Guthrie addressed a rumor from last month that claimed Williams was coming out of retirement. Williams responded at the time via X that she was not returning to the court.
“Recently — tell me if I have this right — you reentered the drug testing pool, which some see as the precursor to a return to tennis,” Guthrie asked Williams on the show. “So you know I have to ask, are you returning to professional tennis?”
Williams immediately questioned Guthrie, saying, “I mean, really? Are you asking this on the Today show? Oh my gosh.” The two continued to go back and forth, with Guthrie egging on the former athlete and Williams avoiding the question.
“Is that a no?” Guthrie asked as Williams repeated the question back to her, and the camera crew began to laugh.
They both laughed before Williams provided more details on her current reality. “I’m just having fun and enjoying my life right now,” she said, which Guthrie interpreted as “not a yes or a no.”
“I’m just gonna see what happens,” Williams replied.
“That’s a ‘maybe’ to me!” Guthrie chimed in before the former tennis pro shut the comment down.
Last month, The Athletic reported that Williams’s name appeared again on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s (ITIA) registered testing pool. The former tennis pro — who retired in 2022 — was forced to address the rumors in a social media post.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams posted on X hours after the report ran. She did not clarify in the post whether or not her name was on the list, nor why it would be.
Guthrie again mentioned this to Williams on Today, prodding, “OK, but you did reenter.” Williams responded that she “couldn’t discuss this.”
Again Guthrie tried to coax an answer from Williams, saying, “OK, I’m just saying if I wanted to put it to bed, this would be a good moment. To put the retirement rumors to bed.”
Williams simply responded, “I want to go to bed. It’s early.”
The interview ended with Guthrie asking the tennis legend whether she was “mad” at her as Williams was seen saying “No.”
Throughout her career, Williams has won seven Wimbledon titles, seven Australian Opens, six U.S. Opens, and three French Opens. She also holds four Olympic gold medals. Together with her older sister, Venus Williams, they have dominated tennis for the large part of the last 25 years.
