Novak Djokovic believes that Serena Williams will return to playing tennis again. The 24-time Grand Slam champion says he is excited about the possibility of seeing her back on the court, calling her one of the greatest athletes in the world.
“I think she’s coming back,” Djokovic said Wednesday at the ATP/WTA Indian Wells Masters.
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to her, but I guess the sentiment is that she’s coming back. Where and how, singles, doubles, we don’t know, and if I’m in her position, I would hide it too.”
Serena Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam titles, has not played a match since she lost in the third round of the US Open.
The 44-year-old mother of two joined the anti-doping testing program again in December, which means she is allowed to compete if she wants to return.
Initially she denied she planned a comeback, but in January she declined to rule it out, telling NBC’s “Today” show: “That’s not a yes or a no. I don’t know, I’m just going to see what happens.”
Novak Djokovic said many players are excited and talking about the possibility of her coming back to tennis.
“Everybody is excited, and it’s definitely something that’s very highly anticipated,” he said.
Williams’s sister Venus, 45, accepted a wild card into the Indian Wells singles draw and will face France’s Diane Parry in the first round.
Djokovic suggested Serena could return for Wimbledon — where she is a seven-time singles champion.
“I pick that one as well as her comeback,” he said. “I don’t know. I think she might maybe play a doubles tournament or two with Venus. That would be nice to see, just from my point of view and tennis fans’, for sure.
“She’s one of the greatest athletes, really. It would be great to have her back too.”
Djokovic is seeded third in Indian Wells as he plays his first event since he fell to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, after toppling Jannik Sinner in the semis.
“For me that has been a phenomenal result,” the 38-year-old said. “I have proven to myself primarily and to others that I can still compete at the highest level and beat these guys.
“So my logic is why not keep going as long as I have that fire and flair and quality and also motivation to do that.
“There are objectives and goals that are always there. You want to win, so you want to get another title and get another Slam, hopefully,” he said. “I was close in Australia.”
Novak Djokovic has won the Indian Wells Open five times, which is the same number of titles won by Swiss legend Roger Federer.
However, Djokovic has not made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament since he last won the title in 2016.
He will start his campaign at Indian Wells on Saturday, where he will play against either Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard from France or Kamil Majchrzak from Poland.
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