Serena Williams threw cold water on the idea that she might be preparing to return to tennis, writing on social media Tuesday that she is "NOT coming back," after a spokesman for the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said the 23-time Grand Slam champion had registered with the sport's drug-testing body.

That is the first step that would be required by a player seeking to come out of retirement.

The 44-year-old Williams, one of the greats of the game, has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, Williams said she didn't want to use the word "retiring" and instead declared that she was "evolving" away from tennis.

It was not clear when or where — or even if — Williams actually will play again, and she later posted: "Omg yall I'm NOT coming back. T

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