A leading tennis reporter has outlined why 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams won't come out of retirement.

Taking to Twitter, journalist Ben Rothenberg pointed out a number of compelling reasons that fans no will longer see the 41-year-old thump winners from the baseline.

Williams announced she was 'evolving away from tennis' in August last year, just before her last tournament at the US Open, stating she has 'never liked the word retirement'.

She then bluntly said 'I am not retired' last October and said the chances of her making a return to the court were 'very high'. 

'I've gotten a lot of messages since Serena "evolved" at the US Open asking about the likelihood of a comeback,' he tweeted. 

'In September, Serena officially retired, removing herself from the ITIA's anti-doping testing pool and whereabouts program.

'By October, she'd also been removed from the WTA rankings. 

'In order to return to tour, Serena (like any officially retired player) would need to re-enter the testing pool at least three months in advance of her return to competition.

'The ITIA (also) keeps public lists of recently officially retired players, as well as those who have been recently reinstated. So if Serena comes back, you would get at least three months advanced notice of it.'

Williams also teased a return to action in November, when she posted a photo of a racquet and tennis court with the caption: 'I'm a little bored.'

Williams turned pro in 1995 and is regarded by many as the greatest ever women's tennis player - and a look at her CV makes it hard to argue otherwise.

Aussie Margaret Court won 24 majors in her decorated career from 1960 to 1977 - but Williams is widely considered the superior all-round player. 

Williams has won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon seven times, the US Open on six occasions and triumphed on clay at the French Open in 2002, 2013 and 2015.

She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017 and their daughter Olympia was born that year.