Serena Williams hints at comeback as coach strikes up Simona Halep partnership
Williams has been out of competition since Wimbledon last year, when she slipped on the Centre Court grass just minutes into her opening match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and was forced to retire in tears at 3-3. Her coach of ten years, Patrick Mouratoglou, announced last week that he would be working with former world No 1 and two-time Major champion Halep in the short-term after a conversation with Williams.
The news led many to speculate when, if ever, the 23-time Grand Slam champion would return to competiton with her coach now needing to busy himself with one of her rivals, who beat the American in the 2019 Wimbledon final, but Williams was quick to drop a comeback hint soon after the news of Halep and Mouratoglou’s link-up.
Now down at No 243 in the world, Williams posted an Instagram story video with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Bitcoin conference in Miami saying: “We’ve been talking about my comeback. He’s been hyping me up and getting me ready for Wimbledon.” When Rodgers asked her about the US Open, the former world No 1 again hinted she’d be back at the site of her last tournament of 2021, adding: “Wimbledon’s before the US Open, I gotta play Wimbledon first.”
