Serena Williams has made headlines once again by announcing her return to professional tennis after nearly four years away from the sport. The 23-time Grand Slam champion will be competing in both singles and doubles at Wimbledon, marking a significant comeback in her illustrious career. The All England Club released a surprising announcement confirming that Williams has received the final wild card for the women’s singles event. This announcement comes just eight days before the prestigious grass-court tournament commences.
At 44 years old, Serena Williams is set to participate in both singles and doubles competitions at Wimbledon after accepting a wild card for doubles alongside her sister, Venus Williams. The excitement surrounding her return was palpable, as Wimbledon proclaimed on social media, "This is not a drill," and the WTA Tour chimed in by challenging, "Name a more iconic return—we’ll wait."
The eighth and final women’s singles wild card spot was kept open by Wimbledon for Williams to make her decision. Earlier in the week, after losing a doubles match in Berlin, Williams expressed uncertainty about her participation. When asked about the availability of a wild card, she remarked, "Oh my gosh, there are some left?" However, she later pondered her own readiness for singles competition, asking a reporter for their opinion and querying her doubles partner, Karolina Muchova, about her thoughts on the matter. Muchova responded, indicating that she believed Williams was interested in the idea, which led to Williams stating, "That’s the question of the hour, right? I don’t know. I don’t know."
With the decision now made, the focus shifts to how Williams will physically handle singles play after such a long hiatus. The last time she participated in a singles match was during the 2022 U.S. Open, where she suffered a defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round. During that period, she stated she didn’t wish to use the term “retirement,” emphasizing instead that she was "evolving" away from tennis. Notably, 2023 also marked the birth of her second daughter.
Williams took to social media to share her excitement post-announcement, humorously saying, "Just finished a mean game of duck duck goose." Among her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, she has secured seven championships at Wimbledon in the years 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2016. In addition to her singles success, she has won 14 Grand Slams in doubles, all alongside Venus, including six titles at Wimbledon. Williams also achieved the rare feat of winning both singles and doubles titles at the 2012 London Olympics, which took place on the grass courts of the All England Club.
In her last Wimbledon appearance in 2022, Serena faced an early exit, losing to 115th-ranked Harmony Tan in the first round. This marked her first match since an injury forced her to withdraw from her opening contest the previous year. Recently, she won a doubles match with partner Victoria Mboko at Queen's Club but had to withdraw afterward due to Mboko's knee injury incurred during a singles match. Additionally, at the Berlin Open, her doubles pairing with Muchova was defeated by Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe.
As of now, Serena Williams has not entered any grass-court tuneup tournaments prior to Wimbledon. On Friday, she will find out who her first-round opponent will be when the singles draws are conducted. Despite her recent doubles victory placing her at No. 593 in the doubles rankings, Williams currently holds no singles ranking due to her prolonged absence from the competition. This lack of ranking means she could potentially face top players like Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, or Aryna Sabalenka, the current No. 1, in the opening rounds of the tournament.
