What was Serena Williams up to during four-year break before Wimbledon return

4 min readUpdated: Jun 30, 2026 05:08 PM IST

Serena Williams of the United States arrives to practice one day ahead of the start of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Serena Williams is set to return at the Wimbledon 2026 on Tuesday after having officially retired from the sport back in September 2022, but during her time away  from the court, she has accomplished a lot including solidifying her business and philanthropic empire.

Earlier this month, Williams had also returned to professional tennis as well when she teamed up with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko to take on the third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe at Queen’s Club. Williams and Mboko had won that match but their partnership was cut short when the latter suffered a knee injury that ruled her out of Wimbledon.

Here is a year-by-year breakdown of Williams’ accomplishments during her hiatus from Tennis:

2022:

Williams shipped her primary focus to ‘Serena Ventures’, the Venture Capital firm, she founded in 2014. She raised a $111 million inaugural fund to invest in early-stage startups, specifically prioritizing women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and underrepresented founders. The firm boasts over a dozen “unicorn” investments, startups valued at over $1 billion.

2023:

Williams gave birth to her second child, ‘Adira’ River Ohanian, in August.

She continued her work in Hollywood as she scaled up operations at her production company, Nine Two Six Productions. She finalised a first-look TV deal with Amazon Studios to develop scripted and unscripted projects centering on diverse, uplifting storytelling.

Williams continued her philanthropic work through the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton, California, which was founded in honor of her late sister. The YPRC provides therapy and resources to victims of community violence.

2024:

Williams entered the cosmetics industry by launching her own brand ‘WYN Beauty’ in partnership with the Good Glamm Group.

She was Inducted in National Women’s Hall Of Fame as part of an elite class celebrating women who changed American history.

She hosted the 2024 ESPY Awards, using her platform to highlight historic milestones in women’s sports.

She was selected as a Global Glamour Woman of the Year, featuring on the cover to talk about navigating motherhood, post-tennis life, and corporate success.

2025:

Williams received the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports as she was not only recognized as one of the history’s greatest athletes but also praised for her constant advocacy of gender equality and corporate inclusivity.

2026:

Story continues below this ad

Williams took the world by surprise after starring in a Nike promotional video alongside basketball star LeBron James to officially announce she was ending her four-year hiatus.

Which other players have made a comeback like Williams after retiring?

While Williams is making all the global headlines for making a remarkable comeback to the sport after a hiatus of nearly 4 years, there have been multiple players who have made a post-retirement comeback in modern women’s tennis and claimed the glory with former Belgian star Kim Clijsters being the ultimate benchmark for it. Clijsters retired in 2007 to start a family, and then came back to play once again in 2009. She won the 2009 US Open in only in her third tournament back, while competing as an unranked wildcard, while also becoming the first unseeded player and the first mother in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title. She later added two more Grand Slams to her list of accolades and also grabbed the World No. 1 spot.

How has Williams’ peers reacted to her comeback?

Story continues below this ad

The 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has said, “First and foremost, what she’s doing is inspirational and it’s epic. For her to come back after years of being absent from the tour, two children later, and to give so much effort to, not just for her own satisfaction or coming back on the tour, but also to give all of us a pleasure of seeing her back on the court is remarkable.”

The current World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, fascinated at the prospect of seeing the American legend back in action, told the media, “I don’t know how far (she will go but) I’m super excited to see her play. I heard she said she’s doing that for her kids to see her play. It’s amazing what she’s doing.”

Written by Madhav Sachdeva, an intern with the online sports desk.