A historic rival of Serena Williams dampens the expectations of her comeback: "I don't think we can expect to see the Serena of before"

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The return of Serena Williams has caused a stir in the tennis world. First, her return almost four years after retiring to play doubles tournaments was made official. Then came her participation in the Wimbledon doubles with her sister Venus Williams, and lastly, the most surprising, her comeback to singles after receiving the final invitation to the London Grand Slam. This means the American will return to the place she conquered on seven occasions.

Kim Clijsters does not believe Serena Williams' return will be easy

However, one of Serena's former and historic rivals, Kim Clijsters, former world number one and winner of four Grand Slams, has tried to temper the excitement. She stated, "I think there's always some fear. It's still early. I don't think we can expect her to play tennis with her eyes closed and for everything to automatically fall into place, moving freely and everything working perfectly. We can't expect that. I don't think we can expect to see the Serena we knew before," said the Belgian on the Love All podcast.

Kim breaks down what to realistically expect from Serena Williams' highly anticipated singles comeback and more in the all-new episode of Love All.

Head to the link in bio for the full conversation out now! 🔗 pic.twitter.com/B5YvQKSqrD

— Love All with Kim Clijsters (@loveallpodcast) June 24, 2026

Nevertheless, she believes that the grass at Wimbledon can greatly benefit Serena: "But I do think that with the type of tennis she is capable of playing, and that she can play on grass, the exchanges are shorter. She has a great serve and an excellent return. So, she masters the first two shots of the point very well. What would concern me more is her reaction, how her vision is. You can train, get fit, and all that, but those things will also start to slow down," notes Kim Clijsters, who only managed to defeat Serena Williams twice in her entire career, one of them being in the semifinals of the US Open 2009, a tournament Serena would ultimately win.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Una histórica rival de Serena Williams frena las expectativas de su regreso: "No creo que podamos esperar ver a la Serena de antes"