Serena Williams was forced to shut down rumors that she was coming out of retirement on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old sent fans into a frenzy when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed that the mom-of-two had registered with the sport's drug testing body.
"She is on the list and back in the testing pool," ITIA spokesman Adrian Bassett stated.
But to many tennis enthusiasts's dismay, Serena broke her silence on the matter: "Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy," the former tennis legend posted on platform X.
Fans quickly rushed to the comments to express their disappointment: "She retired, my denial did not. That’s the real wildfire here," wrote one.
"We have decided on your behalf," said another.
"The wildfire is a reflection of how much people miss you," wrote a third.
Back in 2022, Serena announced that she was ready to step away from competitive tennis.
The Olympian used none other than Vogue's epic September Issue to announce the bittersweet news, looking like Botticelli's Venus as she posed on the beach at sunset, donning a blue, form-fitting Balenciaga gown, and its lengthy train is being held at the end by her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian.
In the as-told-to story, the athlete admitted: "I have never liked the word retirement," explaining that: "It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me."
She maintained: "I've been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.
"Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me."
Serena was candid about what the future holds for her, revealing that her 4-year-old daughter with Alexis Ohanian has actually been begging to be an older sibling, to a sister specifically, and she joked: "She doesn't want anything to do with a boy!"
"I'm the youngest of five sisters myself, and my sisters are my heroes, so this has felt like a moment I need to listen very carefully to," she admitted.
She confessed that she has definitely taken note, and gave an exciting update, revealing: "In the last year, Alexis and I have been trying to have another child, and we recently got some information from my doctor that put my mind at ease and made me feel that whenever we’re ready, we can add to our family."