The American has requested to be included in the anti-doping system again and will be prepared for her return to professional sport
December 2
2025
– 2:33 pm
(Updated at 2:33 p.m.)
According to specialist journalist Ben Rothenberg, Serena Williams has once again requested to be included in the anti-doping program in tennis, which is controlled by ITIA in partnership with WADA and will prepare to return for 2026.
The 44-year-old American’s last match was at the US Open in September 2022, and the next day she removed herself from the anti-doping list by retiring from the sport.
A statement on the ITIA website read: “The players listed here have announced their retirement from the sport and can only return to official events if they make themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question.”
Serena’s name is still on the list of retired players and does not appear on the list of reinstated players. Names only appear in the ITIA reinstatement list after the completion of the six-month trial, not during the trial period.
Unless she changes her mind, Serena’s name will soon appear on the list of people reinstated. More than three years after her last match, Rothenberg reported on her website Bounces that Serena had in recent months asked to be reinstated into tennis and been reinserted into the testing programme.
Bounces also reported that Serena had brought up the possibility of a return even earlier. Serena had first requested her return last August, weeks before the US Open this year, and was supposed to play doubles in New York with her sister Venus. But last-minute automatic returns by officially retired players are not allowed.
Venus Williams, 45, never officially retired, allowing for an unexpected comeback. This summer, after 16 months in Washington, in July Venus won her first singles match against Peyton Stearns, ranked No. 35.