At the end of March, Venus Williams will lose her world ranking and her page on the WTA Tour website will turn from purple to grey.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion will be considered an inactive player, having gone a whole year without competing.

But that status may not last long. The feeling persists that the American icon is not yet ready for retirement.

A wildcard for Indian Wells was announced but then swiftly declined. A "miscommunication" was the reason given.

Sources say Williams was then offered a wildcard for the Miami Open, which began on Tuesday and was the venue of her last match.

The 44-year-old thought about it for a couple of days - although it was no great surprise when she turned it down.

However, the Florida resident did take to the practice court there on Wednesday for a session with Tunisia's Ons Jabeur.

Indian Wells and Miami were the only two tournaments Williams played last year.

Her last Grand Slam appearance was at the 2023 US Open and her last victory at any level came against Veronika Kudermetova in Cincinnati two weeks before that.

The last time Williams played a full schedule was 2019.

It was some achievement to do so in the year she turned 39, having been diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome, external - an autoimmune condition which can cause fatigue and joint pain - a few years earlier.

But turning 45 - which she will do just two weeks before Wimbledon on 17 June - is historically not a barrier to competing on tour. After all, Martina Navratilova won a singles match at the All England Club aged 47.

Should Williams request a wildcard for either Wimbledon, where she is a five-time singles champion, or for the US Open, where she won the singles title twice, it seems unlikely it would be rejected.

Fashion is a big part of Williams' life and she was at Paris Fashion Week two weeks ago - one of the reasons she did not play in Indian Wells.

She owns the interior design company V Starr but, even though more than 30 years have passed since her professional debut, many feel she will attempt a final foray into professional tennis.

It is possible Williams, who is ranked number 1,151, will never retire.

Former US Open and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has not played since Wimbledon 2021, but is yet formally to call it a day.

Venus' sister Serena, meanwhile, did not like the word retirement, preferring instead to "evolve away from the sport" in September 2022.

Serena's name does, however, appear on the International Tennis Integrity Agency's retired players list.

Joining that list is a strong commitment to retiring, as any player who later changes their mind must make themselves available for drug testing for six months before returning to play.

It means Venus could still expect a visit from out-of-competition testers. But she no longer needs to submit details of her daily whereabouts as she was removed from the international registered testing pool last June - a usual process for singles players who drop out of the world's top 100.

Williams has not played frequently enough to qualify as either a full or associate member of the WTA Tour this year, but she has also not completed a WTA retirement form.

To play again she would need to fill out an annual player form and find a $250 administration fee from the nearly $43m of prize money she has earned.

Her management team did not respond to a request for information about her plans and it seems Williams will keep us guessing a little longer. Any ideas she might have for the summer have not been widely shared within the sport.

Many retirement tributes have been written and signed off a long time ago.

They may still need updating.