Serena Williams was included on the entry list for the US Open on Wednesday along with fellow former champion Novak Djokovic, who will not be able to compete due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Serena Williams signalled her intention to retire this month, saying she was "evolving away from tennis" but never confirming the US Open as her final event.
Serena Williams beat her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to win her 23rd grand slam singles title and become the most successful tennis player in the open era.
Madison Keys, 29, is the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in the professional era.
The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.
Former world number one Serena Williams returns to Grand Slam action for the first time in over 15 months, when she goes up against Czech Kristyna Pliskova in the French Open first round.
Serena Williams said her five-episode documentary series 'Being Serena' is a tribute to all the women who have gotten back to work after becoming a mother.
Serena Williams had been a vulnerable conqueror at this year's majors, living dangerously and dicing with defeat on numerous occasions as she tried to become only the fourth woman to complete the calendar Grand Slam.
Serena Williams can break Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles despite being five short at an age when most players have retired, according to Martina Navratilova.
Serena confirmed her entry to the tournament she won for a seventh time on her last appearance in 2017.
She will first team up with Tunisian world number four Ons Jabeur for the doubles event at Eastbourne which gets underway this weekend.
Serena Williams is on the brink of the grandest achievement in tennis, the single season Grand Slam, and even the leading men at the US Open championships starting on Monday are cheering her on.
Inspired Vinci rallies to beat World No 1 and then tells US crowd: 'But today is my day. Sorry guys'
Serena did not rule out taking a page from seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady's playbook.
Aryna Sabalenka is the red-hot favourite at Melbourne Park, where another victory would give her a fourth major title and widen the gap in the rankings to Poland's Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff of the United States.
While her career has featured a number of highs -- she has won two doubles Grand Slam titles and 11 WTA titles, including the Cincinnati Masters -- Garcia said she has become fixated on what she sees as her failures.
Serena Williams on Monday said she has not retired from tennis and that the chances of her returning are "very high" after she previously indicated that she would step away from the sport after last month's U.S. Open.
Aryna Sabalenka will battle American 19th seed Madison Keys in the final on Saturday looking to become the first woman since Martina Hingis from 1997-99 to win the Australian Open title three times in a row.
Venus Williams's encouraging form at the Australian Open has given younger sister Serena cause to look over her shoulder after the siblings eased into the third round with straight-sets wins at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Opportunity knocks for Serena Williams on the grass courts of Wimbledon next week when she faces a diminished field on her best surface at the famous All England Club.
Serena Williams' bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam came to a shuddering halt at the U.S. Open on Friday when the three-times defending champion suffered a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci.
'Serena must be prepared to live with it and say goodbye even in the face of defeat'
If Serena Williams wanted to sound like someone who did not really care whether she won another Wimbledon or not, telling the world she just wanted to have fun, nobody was fooled on Thursday.
Serena Williams credited Tiger Woods on Wednesday as one of the main reasons she was still playing tennis.
Maria Sharapova and world No 1 Serena Williams haven't played each other at the Wimbledon Championships since their Round of 16 clash in 2010.
Serena William powered her way to within two victories of a seventh US Open title on Tuesday and while she refused to look ahead there are many willing to do it for her, and what they see is a suddenly open path to a 24th Grand Slam.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka's name appeared on the singles entry list for Wimbledon released by the organisers on Friday but veterans Roger Federer and the Williams sisters were not included.
Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record with more than 900,000 spectators visiting over three weeks
Williams posted pictures on her Instagram page and wrote: Caption this (MUST SWIPE RIGHT).
'I think when I first started, you could win a lot of easy matches, then you're in the quarter-finals, that's when it starts to get a little more tough. Now, like, there's no easy match. Everyone's playing great. Everyone's just doing a lot better'
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Serena Williams needs to be creative and add variety to her game if the 39-year-old American wants to tame the current power-hitters on clay, seven-time Grand Slam singles winner Mats Wilander said ahead of this week's French Open.
Following is a list of American Serena Williams' 22 grand slam singles titles as she equalled Steffi Graf's professional era record with victory at Wimbledon on Saturday
Defending champion Jannik Sinner dismissed eighth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semi-finals and extend the country's decades-long wait for another homegrown singles winner at the Grand Slam on Wednesday.
Williams has just one professional tournament remaining before she drops the curtain on her historic career
Serena Williams has defeated her compatriot in four straight matches since a defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open.
'I'm terrible at goodbyes, the world's worst'
The defeat ended Williams's bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams signalled she is not quite ready for retirement advancing to the second round of the US Open on Monday with a scrappy 6-3, 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic.
Serena has slid down to 1,204 in the rankings and needed a wildcard from Wimbledon organisers
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances