Serena Williams sends fans into a frenzy with potential tennis comeback or is it a red herring?

Serena Williams has sent tennis fans into overdrive on Tuesday afternoon by suddenly tweeting that she is 'ready to hit some balls again' hinting at a potential return to action.

Williams whilst basically retiring never formally announced her retirement from the sport choosing to use the word 'evolving away from tennis' instead. She has since given birth to a second child called Adira River Ohanian six months ago. So whilst it is a possibility given that she previously said she could return, it is perhaps one to leave fans on strings instead of actually happening.

Williams had a big farewell at the US Open with Ajla Tomljanovic in reality being the one to technically retire her. But if she does return, it could even be to play doubles with sister Venus who is still on the tour albeit with stop start returns. At the age of 43, she shows now signs of retirement. It could merely be a red herring from Williams. But very much one to watch.

"I am not retired," Williams said at a conference in San Francisco while promoting her investment company, Serena Ventures in 2022. The chances (of a return) are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court."

"I still haven't really thought about (retirement)," Williams said. But I did wake up the other day and go on the court and (considered) for the first time in my life that I'm not playing for a competition, and it felt really weird.

"It was like the first day of the rest of my life and I'm enjoying it, but I'm still trying to find that balance."

"I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn't feel like a modern word to me," Williams also wrote in Vogue. I've been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.

"Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me."