Venus Williams said in Washington that "the only thing that would make this better" was if her sister Serena were also there.
This week started with an absolute bombshell after Ben Rothenberg reported that the former 23-time Grand Slam champion was reinstated into the ITIA's anti-doping testing pool. That sent the tennis world into a frenzy.
Big breaking news at Bounces:
Serena Williams has applied for reinstatement to tennis, adding herself back into the tennis anti-doping program to set herself up for a comeback to competition in 2026.
Read all the details here:https://t.co/m5JQaLLv62
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) December 2, 2025
After seeing that the rumors about her possible comeback started spreading like "a wildfire," Serena publicly stated that she was not coming back.
Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy-
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) December 2, 2025
However, that didn't convince the tennis public as it is a common procedure that players leave the testing pool after retiring and are mandated to re-enter it if they decide to come back to tennis.
What Venus Williams said about Serena in late July?
If you can recall, Venus was out of action for 14 months and some thought that she silently retired from pro tennis. But those speculations ended in late July when the 45-year-old accepted a main draw wildcard into the WTA 500 tournament in Washington.
In Washington, Venus was asked about the chances of Serena coming back. The former world No. 1 proceeded to give an interesting answer.
“I'm her biggest fan. I never wanted her to retire. I mean, 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. But if she comes back, I'm sure she'll let y'all know," Venus said at the time.
Now, some speculate that the former 23-time Grand Slam champion may want to return in 2026 and play doubles with Venus.
