Serena Williams planning tennis comeback at 44

Serena Williams is on the brink of a return to elite tennis.

The 23-time grand slam singles champion will seek a doubles wildcard at the upcoming Queen's WTA 500 event alongside Victoria Mboko, the 19-year-old Canadian who is ranked No 19 in singles.

The news come courtesy of The Served podcast, hosted by the former world No 1 Andy Roddick and the veteran journalist L Jon Wertheim.

The second edition of the London tournament begins on 8 June, a day after the French Open ends.

Williams has been back in the drug testing pool for six months, so there is no impediment to her comeback at the age of 44.

The news follows months of speculation about her possible return. She has been training in Florida for months, working with Alycia Parks, the world No 79, who posted a video of them hitting together in March.

Williams has not competed since the 2022 US Open.

The tennis champion re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) registered testing pool for the first time since then in December last year.

To return to competition, players must make themselves available for out-of-competition testing for six months before they are allowed to enter an event.

At the time, Williams disputed that her inclusion in the pool signalled any plans to return.

"Omg yall I'm NOT coming back," she wrote on X. "This wildfire is crazy."

Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, are parents to two daughters, Olympia, eight, and Adira, two.