Serena Williams in discussions to return at Queen’s in doubles in June

There are two pairs of wildcards available for the tournament at Queen’s, one of which is reserved for a team consisting of a former world number one, a Grand Slam champion of the last 10 years or a current top 30 player.

Williams has never liked the word retirement, preferring instead to say she is “stepping away” from tennis in 2022.

She lost to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open and the world thought it would be her last match.

Williams had reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier that year and won her last Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne in 2017, when she was 35.

The Lawn Tennis Association has consistently given priority to British players when determining who should receive wild cards in domestic grass court events.

All four available for the singles draw are likely to go to English players, but the LTA is likely to think differently about the doubles given the “exceptional circumstances” of a potential Williams return.

“Never say never, and I don’t want to single out one player, but in recent years you’ll see these wild card opportunities being made available to English players – that’s absolutely my core personal belief and philosophy,” LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd told reporters at a briefing in April.

“There may be exceptional circumstances that may impact a unique wildcard, but otherwise there may be gaming opportunities we want to offer British players.”

The organization’s performance director, Michael Bourne, also hinted that commercial opportunities could be a factor.

“It’s also really important to remember that we on the performance team understand that players have to earn that right,” Bourne said.

“We’re not underestimating them. We’d hold up our hands if we didn’t think we have the depth of players for them to take those opportunities and that’s another thing that’s good for business.”