Serena Williams making tennis comeback in Queen's Club doubles

Serena Williams is making her comeback in professional tennis after she was granted a wild-card entry for the doubles draw at Queen's Club in London.

The 44-year-old last played on the WTA Tour in 2022. She retired following a third-round loss at the US Open.

"Queen's ​Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next ​chapter. 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," Williams said, according to Reuters.

The HSBC Championships at Queen's Club start June 8. It's recognized as the traditional warmup event for Wimbledon, which begins June 29.

"Serena brought the game to another level, and it is incredible for the sport that she's pushing the boundaries and coming back," said Martina Navratilova. She was previously the oldest former No. 1 to launch a comeback at 43 years and 10 months.

News surfaced last December that Williams had re-entered the sport's anti-doping test pool, fueling rumors of a comeback to tennis. However, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles promptly shut down that speculation on social media.

Novak Djokovic said in March that he thought Williams was preparing to return to tennis. He felt that Wimbledon, where she's won seven singles titles, was the ideal setting for her comeback, but added that she "might maybe play a doubles tournament or two with (her sister) Venus (Williams)" first.

Venus, 45, returned to the tour last summer after more than a year away and admitted she wished her younger sibling would join her.

"I keep saying to my team: The only thing that would make this better is if she was here. Like, we always did everything together, so of course I miss her," Venus said last July, as reported by Howard Fendrich of The Associated Press. "But if she comes back, I'm sure she'll let y'all know."

The sisters have won doubles at Wimbledon on six occasions, most recently in 2016.