Not even Venus has seen Serena play ahead of comeback

Venus Williams isn't playing Roland Garros this year, but she is on hand in Paris to cover the tournament for TNT.

The 45-year-old, who was set to play doubles with Hailey Baptiste prior to the World No. 26's devastating injury in the second round, joined the TNT desk on Tuesday and opined on a host of topics.

The most notable discussion point was the return of her younger sister, Serena, to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion announced her comeback on Monday, and is set to play her first tournament next week at Queen's Club, in doubles.

Asked by the TNT crew if she knew about Serena's return well in advance, Venus said she didn't, and added some mystery and intrigue to the highly-anticipated comeback. 

"I think she hits every now and then," Venus said. "I never see her on the court that often, so I don't know when she's been practicing, honestly. I'm honest -- I don't know how her form is.

"But what I will tell you is she can not hit for four months, and I'll be hitting, and she'll come out and grab a racquet and running shoes, and [she] just hits a ton out of the ball without ever hitting. It's incredible. The quality of her stroke is obviously there."

Serena last played at the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round. She also played doubles with Venus in that tournament, losing in the first round.

"She's, I think, a little bit of a natural," Venus added with a laugh. "She has a pretty good record. She knows what she's doing. She's very tenacious. I'm not worried about how she's going to play, even though I really haven't seen her play. It's so crazy."

As of now, Serena isn't entered into any tournaments beyond Queen's Club. 

Venus is scheduled to play the Bad Homburg Open Powered by Solarwatt later this month.