Tommy Haas believes Serena Williams will make a comeback from retirement - "She might really be thinking about whether she wants to try again"

Former tennis star Tommy Haas believes that American legend Serena Williams will make a comeback at some point due to something currently unfulfilled.

Williams subtly hinted she could return to tennis when asked on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon if she would make a shock return in the same way NFL superstar Tom Brady backtracked on his retirement plans to continue playing.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner announced her decision to "evolve away” from the sport in an interview with Vogue in August. But then asked after she was knocked out in the third round of the US Open by Ajla Tomljanovic in September if she may be tempted to keep going, she said: "I don't know. I'm not thinking about that. I always did love Australia, though.”

Asked by Fallon if she could perform a dramatic U-turn from her current retirement, Williams said: "Tom Brady started an amazing trend. That's what I want to say."

Former world No. 2 Haas is unconvinced that Williams will remain retired and has speculated that she will make a return due to the fact that she came so agonizingly close to finding her top level once more in search for that elusive record-equaling 24th Grand Slam singles title.

"Serena had an incredible, long and strong career," Haas told Eurosport Germany's tennis podcast Das Gelbe vom Ball while also discussing Roger Federer's retirement."But I have the feeling that she is going to come back and say, 'I'm going to play one more time'. She came so close to playing really well again and going far, so I think deep down it really annoys her.

"She might really be thinking about whether she wants to try again. I may be wrong because I'm not that close [to her]. It will mostly depend on how it looks mentally, how she feels physically and whether she has the desire to torture herself like that again after achieving so much.

"Serena also does a lot of things off the court and is a mother."