Questions have been raised over Serena Williams’ presence at next month’s Australian Open after it was announced that she is set to attend a business conference during the same week.
The defending Australian Open champion hasn’t played a competitive match since winning the title in January. Since then, Williams has given birth to a baby girl and married her partner Alexis Ohanian.
There has been no comment from Williams about when she will return. Although Australian Open tournament director, Craig Tiley, confirmed that she is on their entry list. Telling reporters that it was ‘likely’ that she will play. The 36-year-old then raised further speculation about her Melbourne return when she uploaded a photo on her Instagram account. The picture was of her wearing gold and white Nike shoes on a tennis court with the caption ‘Be excited. Be very excited..’
Despite the indications, it has been revealed that Williams is set to be a keynote speaker at a Hollywood conference during the first grand slam of 2018. The Inside ETFs is a four-day event that features numerous business figures delivering speeches. On December 15th the CEO of the event, Matt Hougan, tweeted that Williams will be one of the attendees, which takes place between January 21-24.
Super excited to announce the keynote speaker lineup at Inside ETFs 2018: Headliners include Mohamed El-Erian, Gen. Stanley McCrystal, Serena Williams, Quincy Jones, The Daily Show, and Tim Buckley in his 1st speech as Vanguard's CEO (1/2). @InsideETFs
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) December 15, 2017
At the time of the tweet, Williams was not on the official schedule. Although that has now been corrected on knect365.com. The former world No.1 is set to deliver the closing speech on January 23rd, the same day as the Australian Open quarter-finals. In their printed program, there is no mention of who was delivering the closing speech because of ‘contractual obligations.’ Although, they wrote that the person was a ‘legend in their field.’ Hinting at Williams’ dominance in women’s tennis.
Next year Williams is aiming to win a 23rd grand slam title to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. There has been no comment from Williams or her team about her plans next month.
