Serena Williams is leaving the door open to returning to Grand Slam singles competition.
The 44-year-old, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and six-time U.S. Open singles champion, told ESPN's Malika Andrews in an interview that aired Monday on Good Morning America that she plans to compete in singles again. "I probably will play again. I have to...After some of those returns, I think I need to play at least once," Williams said.
Williams competed in singles earlier this summer at Wimbledon but said an injury there prevented her from entering the singles draw at this year's U.S. Open. "I injured myself at Wimbledon. And I just didn't have time to recover, unfortunately," she said. "And I just didn't want to take any opportunities away from someone if in terms of getting a wild card if I wasn't able to compete at a way that I knew I could."
When Andrews told Williams that many fans hoped to see her compete in a Grand Slam again, Williams replied, "Yeah. I think I will." She added that her returns to competition are not permanent. "But this isn't something permanent, obviously," she said. "It's just also really wanting my children to see me play at a different age."
Williams, a mother to daughters Olympia and Adira, said having her children watch her play is part of what motivates this chapter of her career. Asked what she hopes to show her daughters by competing at 44, she said she wants them to know that "anything is possible." "You can do anything at any age as long as you work hard and put some effort and dedication behind it," she said.
Motherhood has also changed how she thinks during matches. "It's always like, 'Where are they? Are they good? Did they eat?'" Williams said.
At this year's U.S. Open, Williams teamed with Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles. The partnership came together after Alcaraz proposed it. "He's like, 'You know what? You need to come to New York and we'll play mixed together,'" Williams recalled. "And I was like, 'No chance.'" They won their opening match before losing to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 5-4 (4), 4-1 in the mixed doubles quarterfinals on August 25.
Williams is also playing women's doubles alongside her older sister Venus. That pairing came at the suggestion of her daughter Olympia. "I was like, 'Who do you think I should play with?'" Serena Williams recalled. "And she looked at me and she was like, 'You need to play with Auntie VV.'" The sisters received a wild card for this year's tournament and are scheduled to play their first-round match this week. Over their careers, the Williams sisters have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, according to the WTA.
