Serena Williams has dropped a cryptic teaser to tennis fans around the globe, almost two years after she stepped away from the game.
Williams last graced the court in a professional match at the 2022 US Open where she bowed out in the third round to Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic.
She had flagged a month earlier that was “evolving away from tennis”, but refused to use the R-word.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
“I have never liked the word ‘retirement’,” she said in August 2022.
Officially, though, Williams is retired.
Her name appeared on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s retired players list on September 3, 2022.
That, though, hasn’t stopped rumblings of an unlikely comeback.
And a message she released on Tuesday night (AEST) did nothing to quell those rumours.
“I’m ready to hit some balls again,” the 42-year-old said, apropos of nothing.
Whether it meant she wants to make a fully fledged comeback to the game, or she just feels ready to have a social hit again, no one knows.
But it set the internet alight.
By 8am Wednesday morning, the post had already reached 4.3 million people.
“The news we needed today,” The Tennis Channel replied.
It’s unconfirmed what exactly that news is yet.
Thousands of others joined in the replies, hoping that it really was a comeback hint.
