Serena Williams Teases Return to Tennis After Retirement: 'Tom Brady Started an Amazing Trend'

Is Serena Williams thinking about pulling a Tom Brady and returning to tennis after her "retirement" from the sport?

That's the question Jimmy Fallon had on Tuesday night, when the 23-time Grand Slam champ made a visit to his NBC show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

After discussing what led to her decision to leave tennis, and the relief she felt after announcing that, Williams, 40, opened up about the prospect that she might change her mind and "unretire" from the sport.

Asked by Fallon if she "There's no chance of you pulling a Tom Brady and saying, 'Maybe I'm evolving to coming back,' " Williams teased to Fallon, "You know what? Tom Brady started an amazing trend."

"That's what I want to say," she laughed.

RELATED: Serena Williams Still Doesn't Know If U.S. Open Will Be Her Last Tournament: 'Never Say Never

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Before the US Open, Williams made headlines in a Vogue essay in which she said she planned to step away from her nearly 27-years-long professional tennis career following the tournament.

Although she captivated fans and drew scores of celebrities to Arthur Ashe Stadium during her epic run for a record 24th major win, Serena ultimately lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round.

But the tennis icon's future in the sport is not exactly clear-cut, which she elaborated on with Fallon.

"I think retirement is something that's super-earned, that people work really hard for," she said Tuesday night. "But I just feel like I'm at an age where I definitely have a lot more to give, there's a lot more I want to do, and so, I'm not going to be relaxing, there is so much more for me and I feel it's more like an evolution of Serena."

She continued, "And there's so many things that I've been wanting to do for so many years and I have such a passion for tennis for so long that I have never done it but now it's time for me to, like, try to enjoy those things."

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

William also shared on The Tonight Show that prior to her essay in Vogue, there was only one person who knew her plans.

"The only person that knew at one point about it was my therapist," she said to Fallon. "Because verbalizing meant that it was real, and I don't want it to be real so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do and I don't think you really know until, I don't know, until you say it or it's actually real."

Announcing the news "was a lot" on Williams, she said — even though she never thought it would be that big of a deal.

"I always thought at the end of it I would just leave quietly and not saying anything and make an announcement on social media," she said. "That's how I always thought I would do it."

"I've been playing tennis since I was littler in a stroller... that's how long I've been around tennis," Williams also said. "But when it came out, I was actually relieved and I didn't expect to feel that way. I felt pretty good. It's like when you want to accomplish something and you don't do it but then when you finally do it you're like, 'It wasn't as bad as I thought it was.?' I should have done it 10 years ago!"

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Williams first teased a return to tennis on the eve of the Open, in an appearance alongside Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka and her own sister Venus Williams on "A Conversation with Champions" panel. s.

Asked by co-moderator and TODAY show anchor Sheinelle Jones whether the U.S. Open would be her final tournament, Serena hedged her bets. "I mean, I don't know," she said. "I think so, but who knows?"

RELATED: Serena Williams Went to Tiger Woods to Ask If She Should Retire: 'I Needed His Advice'

"Maybe in Australia?" wondered Jones, of the 2023 Australian Open. "Yeah, no. I mean, I don't think so," said Serena.

"You never know," the tennis star added. "I've learned in my career, never say never. So that's important."

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights (11:30 p.m. ET) on NBC.