She spoke more at length about Serena at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in July:
“I’m her biggest fan,” she said at the time. “She can take six months off and she clocks it clean. You can’t teach that kind of talent. She’s just so good.
“I mean, I keep saying to my team, ‘The only thing that would make this better is if she was here,’ like we always did everything together, so of course I miss her. But if she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know.”
For her part, Serena has kept mum on a possible comeback, though she has shared practice videos on social media, most recently with fellow American Alycia Parks.
