LONDON — Tennis icon Serena Williams is headed back to Wimbledon, and this time she’s bringing her sister along. The All England Club announced Tuesday that it has awarded Serena and Venus Williams a doubles wildcard, setting the stage for a highly anticipated reunion at one of the sport’s most prestigious events.
Serena boasts an extraordinary record at Wimbledon, having claimed seven singles titles there as part of her 23 Grand Slam singles championships overall. She has also won six doubles titles at the All England Club, all of them alongside Venus.
The 44-year-old made her long-awaited return to competitive tennis earlier this month at the Queen’s Club Championships, where she played doubles alongside Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko. That partnership came to an abrupt end when Mboko sustained a knee injury that ended her Wimbledon hopes.
Serena is now preparing for the grasscourt Grand Slam, which gets underway June 29, by competing in doubles this week in Berlin with partner Karolina Muchova.
Her most recent Wimbledon appearance came in 2022, when she also required a wildcard and fell to Harmony Tan in the opening round. That match marked the beginning of what she described as her decision to “evolve away from tennis” — a choice she made four years ago before her current comeback.
Wildcards at Wimbledon are typically granted to players whose rankings don’t qualify them for automatic entry, and they are generally reserved for notable players returning from injury or those representing the host nation.
On the men’s side, wildcards were handed out to three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who plans to retire at the conclusion of this season, and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov. Tournament organizers still have two men’s singles wildcard spots to fill, with 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini, Dan Evans, Nick Kyrgios, and Gael Monfils all under consideration.
In women’s singles, French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska of Poland was among those receiving a wildcard, with one spot in that category still remaining. A second round of wildcard announcements is expected later this week.
In doubles, British players Katie Boulter and Heather Watson were also awarded a wildcard to compete together.
