In a stunning turn of events, Wimbledon confirmed on Sunday that seven-time champion Serena Williams will make her comeback at the grass-court major as a wild card entrant.
The 44-year-old Williams, who retired from singles competition after the 2022 US Open, has been active in doubles this year, having partnered with Karolina Muchova at the recent Berlin Open and with Victoria Mboko at the HSBC Championships in London. However, she hasn’t played a singles match since her third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open.
Serena Williams Weight Loss
Williams, who has lost 34 pounds in the last year, has credited Zepbound (tirzepatide) with her physical transformation and weight loss, which has led to her return to professional tennis. In a recent IG video, the 23-time Grand Slam champion noted some of her physical markers — such as blood sugar and total cholesterol levels — are even lower than during her heyday as a competitor. She also now faces a reduced cardiovascular risk than at any point during her career.
“There’s less stress on my knees, so I can pull off moves that I could, quite frankly, never do before,” Serena said, via Ro’s social media channels. “Plus I just have so much more energy now to show up for my kids, for my family and just for my life in general.”
The Atlantic’s Nicholas Florko has raised a pertinent question: Does the GLP-1 weight-loss drug enhance Williams’ performance? And if so, should it be considered a doping violation?
“Before Serena Williams picked up her racket at London’s Andy Murray Arena last week, two questions hung over her return to tennis,” Florko wrote on Monday, recalling Williams’ recent comeback to doubles tennis.
“First: How would she do? She answered that, in her first competition in nearly four years, by winning. The 44-year-old and her doubles partner, the 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, ended up besting the third seed in their opening match of the Queen’s Club tournament. Their victory was sealed by a 116-mile-an-hour serve from Williams that her opponents couldn’t return.
“The second will take longer to answer: Did a GLP-1 weight-loss drug enhance her performance?”
Serena Williams Comeback
The Atlantic argued that while there’s no indication that GLP-1st gives Williams “a competitive advantage,” it raises uncomfortable questions for the WTA to answer.
“Williams is a paid spokesperson for Ro, a telehealth company that specializes in such medications. In ads, she says that she lost 34 pounds with the help of GLP-1s. It’s unclear whether Williams is still on her drug of choice, tirzepatide (her publicist declined to comment), which has helped her lose stubborn baby weight and manage her cholesterol.
“Although there’s no indication that she took it to gain a competitive advantage, Williams has also said that the medication improved her training and her game,” wrote Florko.
Serena Williams Controversy
Last August, Williams told People magazine that GLP-st helped “enhance everything that I was already doing—eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day.”
Amid the news of Serena Williams’ comeback, several analysts on social media called out the WTA and Wimbledon for encouraging the use of an alleged performance enhancement drug.
“This is an awful look for Tennis. 44 year old Serena Williams who has not won a match at
@Wimbledon in 7 years has been given a WC to play,” wrote Pavvy G. “Serena admitted that she used GLP1 weight loss medication to help her get back into shape.”
“What message does this send out to youngsters?”
British media personality Catherine Whitaker feels Williams’ return is “unsettling and sad.”
“I think the marketing of them (GLPs) preys on women’s insecurities in what I think is a very sinister way and to see Serena Williams be apart of that is very unsettling and sad.”
Serena Williams will play her first-round match either on June 29 or June 30.
Serena Williams Wimbledon Comeback Sparks Uproar: ‘Unsettling and Sad’