Tennis legend Serena Williams will return to Wimbledon for the first time since 2022 after being awarded a wildcard entry into the women’s doubles competition alongside her sister, Venus Williams.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, marking another chapter in Serena’s remarkable comeback to professional tennis after spending nearly four years away from the sport.
The 44-year-old, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in tennis history, returned to competitive action last week at the Queen’s Club Championships, where she won her opening doubles match alongside Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko.
Williams had not played professional tennis since the 2022 US Open, after announcing that she was “evolving away” from the sport. However, she recently revealed her desire to compete again, citing her wish to play in front of her two young daughters as one of the motivations behind her return.
Her comeback at Queen’s was cut short after Mboko withdrew from the tournament due to injury, limiting the pair to a single match. Serena is expected to continue her return this week at the Berlin Open, where she will partner Czech star Karolina Muchova in the doubles event.
The Williams sisters are among the most successful doubles partnerships in tennis history. They have won six Wimbledon doubles titles together, with their most recent triumph coming during their last appearance as a team at the All England Club in 2016.
Despite speculation that Serena could seek a place in the singles draw, her name was absent from the list of Wimbledon singles wildcard recipients announced by organisers. Having spent several years away from the tour, she no longer holds a ranking high enough to secure automatic entry into major tournaments.
Serena is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion and a 23-time Grand Slam singles winner. Her last Grand Slam title came at the 2017 Australian Open, where she defeated Venus in the final while pregnant with her first child.
Her return to competition at Queen’s, where she played her first professional match in 1,375 days, captivated tennis fans around the world. Any concerns about her readiness quickly faded as she showcased the powerful serve and aggressive baseline game that defined one of the most decorated careers in the sport.
Venus, now 45, continues to compete on a limited schedule. The five-time Wimbledon singles champion has struggled in singles competition this season, losing all seven of her matches, although she recorded a doubles victory alongside Britain’s Katie Boulter in Madrid earlier this year.
Elsewhere, Wimbledon awarded men’s singles wildcards to three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who is expected to retire at the end of the season, and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
In the women’s singles draw, Poland’s Maja Chwalinska received a wildcard after reaching the French Open final earlier this month.
Wimbledon begins on June 29, with Serena Williams’ return set to be one of the tournament’s biggest attractions as the American icon seeks to add another memorable chapter to her illustrious career.
AFP
