Serena Williams once again playing at Arthur Ashe Stadium in late August and early September is the equivalent of Michael Jordan lacing up his sneakers for one more battle at Madison Square Garden.
Williams hasn’t played in this country’s most famed tennis tournament since September 2022, but there are plenty of whispers that we could see her grace the Flushing Meadows courts once again.
This week, the United States Tennis Association announced seven of the eight awarded wild cards for the 2026 US Open women’s singles draw. There was a “To be announced” written in the final slot, leading to plenty of speculation that Williams could be a late add to the field.
Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs told Just Women’s Sports shortly after Williams’ Wimbledon appearance that Williams’ “intention is to keep playing; the US Open as well.”
Stubbs said this days after Williams suffered a right knee injury at Wimbledon during a singles match against Maya Joint. Williams was forced to withdraw from planned doubles matches that would have paired her up with her sister, Venus.
“As long as physically she can go - and I’m hoping in a few weeks that’s the case - to get her back on the court and hitting balls,” Stubbs said in mid-July.
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The comeback tour
Serena was back on the court Monday, at The Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio, as she played alongside Venus in doubles action. The Williams sisters fell to Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 1-6, 10-8 in the first round.
“I thought it was fun. I thought it was special,” Serena said of teaming up with her sister again for the first time since the 2022 US Open. “We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match and just, you know [were] starting to feel it. I didn’t come out here to win this tournament. Winning is obviously great. But in this position just, you know, having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again.”
The sisters are expected to play together again in doubles at the US Open, but whether or not Williams participates in singles is still up in the air. The US Open singles draw will be held on Thursday, August 27.
The 44-year-old announced her return to tennis in June and only played doubles at first. She accepted a wild card to play singles at Wimbledon and was pitted against Joint in the first round. Joint won the match 6-3, 7-6 (6), 3-6.
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