Serena Williams has assured her fans that the door is not fully closed on her tennis career.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion hung up her racquet earlier this month after almost three decades in the sport in order to focus more on her family.
But despite her emotional farewell at the US Open, there is still a chance Williams could return to the court in the future.
Could Serena return to tennis?
Williams' retirement marked the end of an era for both fans and players alike.
Ever since she made her professional debut in 1995, she has been one of the sport's leading names and will go down in history for her astonishing achievements on the court.
Williams and her sister Venus spoke to Bradley Cooper on History Talks to recap their careers both individually and as hitting partners. The 23-time Grand Slam champion revealed she has given herself the green light to return to tennis if a burning desire was to ever reappear.
"I feel like if I want to come back, I definitely can still come back," Serena said (h/t Variety).
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: Venus Williams and Serena Williams attend HISTORYTalks 2022 on September 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for History)
For years, Williams chased an elusive 24th major title that would have equalled Margaret Court's all-time record.
She fell agonisingly short on four occasions but was still able to retire as the player with the most titles won during the Open Era, male or female.
Should she ever pick up her racquet again and return to professional tennis, reigniting the chase for number 24 will surely be the main goal.
Why did Serena retire?
In August, Williams announced in a tear-jerking feature for Vogue that she had made the decision to "evolve away" from tennis.
As hard as it was for the legend's fans to accept she was retiring, it was also difficult for Williams herself to come to terms with the decision.
She admitted it was time to focus more on her family but slammed the "unfair" choice she was faced with that she may not have had to consider if she was a man.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 28: Serena Williams of the United States poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after winning the 2017 Women's Singles Australian Open Championship at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
"If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labour of expanding our family. Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity."
Williams echoed this in her interview with Cooper and stressed she wanted to call time on her career while she was still playing well.
"I just needed to stop. I always said I wanted to stop when I’m playing really good tennis and winning and beating good players.
"For me, it’s really about things I want to do spiritually and spending time with my daughter and family.
"As a super hands-on mom, I can’t tell you how hard it was. I lost so many matches after I had Olympia [in 2017] because it was so hard to be on the court. I feel like I’ve given so much of my life to tennis, my entire life, that it’s time to do something different for me and also work on other things."