Tennis great Serena Williams ‌will make her long-anticipated competitive ‌comeback to tennis at ‌the age of 44 on grass at Queen’s Club in London next week.

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin ⁠this ‌next chapter,” Williams said on Monday (local time) in a statement issued by the club, which hosts its women’s event from June 8-14.

“Grass has given ​me some ‌of the most meaningful ​moments of my career, and I’m excited ​to ​be ​back competing on ‌one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Williams had also teased the step minutes before it was confirmed with a video on her social media. The clip features her phone pinging repeatedly with messages, and then ringing.

“Guess everyone’s heard the news,” the caption reads over a shot of a tennis court.

“I gotta change my number,” Williams says.

Williams may also play in Germany later this month, according to DPA sources. The Bild newspaper also reported that the winner of 23 grand slam titles planned to play at the June 15-21 grass court event in Berlin.

Williams has accepted a wildcard to play doubles at the Queen’s tournament, reportedly with Canadian youngster Victoria Mboko.

Mboko did not want to confirm the speculation at the ongoing French Open, saying it was up to Williams to announce if she was returning.

Wimbledon and the US Open could be next for the returning superstar.

“It seems like she’s trying to work her way up maybe to the US Open, and those fans would be so ready to see her back on a singles court there,” former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said at the French Open after the WTA Tour after the Williams announcement.

Williams won seven Wimbledon titles and six at the US Open before stepping away from the game in 2022. In doubles, she won six titles at Wimbledon and two at the US Open — all with her older sister Venus.

John McEnroe suggested Williams – a mother of two young daughters – could compete in singles at Wimbledon, which starts June 28.

“She’s not getting any younger but she’s Serena Williams so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,” McEnroe said in Paris.

One of the best and most successful players of all time, Williams last played competitive tennis at the 2022 US Open. She notably has never said she has retired, instead maintaining she was “evolving” away from the sport.

Speculation about a comeback started last year when she registered to be doping tested again.

“OMG y’all, I’m NOT coming back,” Williams wrote on X at the time amid a wave of chatter.

“This wildfire is crazy.”

In January, she said she wasn’t yet sure about a comeback and would wait and see.

Davenport said some current women’s players went to Florida recently to practice with Williams.

“I don’t think anyone’s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,” Davenport said.

“I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don’t know if she’s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We’ll have to see how she can handle that physically.”

Venus Williams, 45, still plays occasionally on the tour.

-with AAP