The 23-time Grand Slam champion will make her return in the women's doubles event at Queen's Club in London next week in what will be her first competitive action since she announced that she was "evolving away" from tennis following the 2022 US Open.

Williams said in a statement: "Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter. 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."

Speculation about Williams making a comeback has been raging for months, following the former world number one's return to the drug-testing pool last year.

There have since been several reports of the seven-time Wimbledon champion training for a comeback in Florida, with world number 79 Alycia Parks posting video footage of herself training with the star in March.

Williams will be competing at Queen's Club with Victoria Mboko, although the Canadian player stayed tight-lipped on the matter when asked about it at the French Open last week.

She said: "I’m very happy. Me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice, because I really look up to her. I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very exciting. I think for me I want to let the moment be for her. I feel like if she’s ready to come back on her own terms, then I feel like it’s up to her to announce that."

Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe believes that Williams has announced her return with a plan to compete at Wimbledon this summer.

He told TNT Sports: "That would seem to be the logical next step.

"If Serena Williams is the greatest of all time and is coming back, she's not coming back as she's happy to play - she wants to win another major - that's the only reason I can think that she would want to play tennis again."