It is possible Williams, who is ranked 1,151, will never retire.
Former US Open and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has not played since Wimbledon 2021, but is yet formally to call it a day.
Venus’ sister Serena, meanwhile, did not like the word retirement, preferring instead to “evolve away from the sport” in September 2022.
Serena’s name does, however, appear on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s retired players list.
Joining that list is a strong commitment to retiring, as any player who later changes their mind must make themselves available for drug testing for six months before returning to play.
It means Venus could still expect a visit from out-of-competition testers. But she no longer needs to submit details of her daily whereabouts as she was removed from the international registered testing pool last June – a usual process for singles players who drop out of the world’s top 100.
Williams has not played frequently enough to qualify as either a full or associate member of the WTA Tour this year, but she has also not completed a WTA retirement form.
To play again she would need to fill out an annual player form and find a $250 administration fee from the nearly $43m of prize money she has earned.
Her management team did not respond to a request for information about her plans and it seems Williams will keep us guessing a little longer. Any ideas she might have for the summer have not been widely shared within the sport.
Many retirement tributes have been written and signed off a long time ago.
They may still need updating.
