Former WTA Tour star Anna Chakvetadze, who played Serena Williams twice, has told Tennis365 that it would be \u201cvery special for tennis\u201d if the legendary American were to make a comeback.<\/p>\n
Williams<\/a> made her farewell at the 2022 US Open, having announced that she would \u201cevolve away\u201d from tennis rather than using the word retirement.<\/p>\n The former world No 1 won 23 Grand Slam singles titles between 1995 and 2022, and she is regarded by many to be the greatest women\u2019s tennis player of all time.<\/p>\n Williams, 44, has sparked conjecture that she could make a return to tennis after it was revealed that she had re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA)\u2019s International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the ITIA, players on the IRTP need to inform the organisation about their whereabouts every day of the year through the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)\u2019s ADAMS platform. By being on the list, players give the ITIA permission to conduct no-notice, out-of-competition testing as part of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP).<\/p>\n The ITIA\u2019s website explains that players \u201cmay not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question.\u201d<\/p>\n After the news emerged, Williams took to X\/Twitter to respond to the strong speculation about her by insisting she would not be making a comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,\u201d Williams wrote.<\/p>\n Some remain convinced that Williams will return despite her statement.<\/p>\n In reply to Williams\u2019 tweet, tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg asked: \u201cThen why did you apply to reenter the testing pool?\u201d<\/p>\n Serena Williams\u2019 former coach reveals \u2018big asset\u2019 that could be key to comeback<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Serena Williams comeback rumours: The best responses after tennis great puts out wildfire<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Chakvetadze, a former world No 5 who won eight WTA singles titles, crossed paths with Williams during an illustrious career spanning from 2003 to 2013.<\/p>\n Speaking exclusively to Tennis365, Chakvetadze shared her thoughts on the possibility of the tennis icon returning to the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cSerena is a legend of our sport and one of the greatest champions in history,\u201d said the Russian.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she ever decides to return, it would obviously be something very special for tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn individual matches, especially on the biggest stages, she could still look very competitive. But a full tournament, and especially the two-week Grand Slam distance, is a completely different challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key question is how the body responds to that kind of physical load over time.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she does come back, I\u2019m sure it would only be for something truly meaningful to her. She has achieved everything in tennis, and her legacy is already untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n Chakvetadze holds a 1-1 record from her two encounters with Williams.<\/p>\n In the pair\u2019s first match, Chakvetadze won the opening set 6-4 before Williams was forced to retire due to injury, giving the Russian the victory.<\/p>\n Williams dismantled Chakvetadze 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Exclusive \u2013 Stefanos Tsitsipas gets top 10 ranking verdict and honest advice from his idol<\/a> The post Former world No 5 who played Serena Williams gives verdict on icon\u2019s potential comeback<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former WTA Tour star Anna Chakvetadze, who played Serena Williams twice, has told Tennis365 that it would be \u201cvery special for tennis\u201d if the legendary American were to make a comeback. Williams made her farewell at the 2022 US Open, having announced that she would \u201cevolve away\u201d from tennis rather than using the word retirement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is there speculation that Serena Williams could make a comeback?<\/h2>\n
Tennis News<\/h2>\n
What has Anna Chakvetadze said about a potential Serena Williams comeback?<\/h2>\n
What is Anna Chakvetadze\u2019s record against Serena Williams?<\/h2>\n
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