What's Serena Williams hinting in her latest Instagram pic?

The Greatest may be on the verge of a return.

Serena Williams posted an Instagram photo of … well, of her shoes, and nothing else, but she’s very clearly standing on a tennis court. She captioned the photo “Be excited. Be very excited,” and she’s either hinting at a return or hawking some new coordinated Nike-and-sock combo:

Williams hasn’t played since winning the Australian Open in January. Three months later, she announced she was pregnant and was taking time off. She gave birth to a daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on Sept. 1.

A return to the court would only add to what’s already one of the great tennis careers in history. Williams’ 39 total Grand Slam titles rank first among all active players and third all-time, second in the Open era, among all players. Her 23 single majors is one shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley told a local paper last week that Williams is “very likely” going to return to tennis at next year’s Open. “She’s got her visa, she’s entered, she’s practicing and she’s probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage,” Tiley said.

Next year’s Australian Open begins on Jan. 15, 2018.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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