Serena Williams to play women’s singles at Wimbledon as a wildcard | Tennis news

The seven-time women’s singles title marks her return to Wimbledon, six years after her last appearance.

Serena Williams has been granted a place in the women’s singles tournament at Wimbledon, paving the way for her return to the Grand Slam tournament.

The All England Club announced on Sunday that the tennis star from the United States, who returned to the tournament last month after a three-and-a-half-year retirement, was the eighth and final player to receive a wildcard in the women’s singles division.

Wildcards are awarded by tournament organizers to players whose rankings do not allow for automatic entry and are usually reserved for home players, those with good career records or top players returning from injury.

“This is not a drill,” the third Grand Slam of the year said in his post on Instagram and X announcing the return of Williams.

Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, winning her last title in 2016, before retiring from the sport in 2022.

Her return to the Slam was confirmed after she was accepted to the women’s undercard to compete against her sister Venus. The sisters won a record-equalling six titles between 2000 and 2016.

Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1998, reaching the third round.

The 44-year-old returned to tennis at the Queen’s Club Championships, playing her first match against Canada’s Victoria Mboko on June 9. The pair exited in the quarterfinals, with Mboko walking out due to injury.

Williams also competed at the Berlin Open last week, partnering Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, but lost in the round of 16.

The American is arguably the greatest female tennis player of the Open Era, with 37 Grand Slam titles and 96 WTA titles.

He retired from the sport after the 2022 US Open, saying he was “going to retire from tennis”, although he did not retire.

Mother of two children announced his return from work in social networking sites on June 2, when he posted a video on social media with the caption: “Good news travels fast.”

The announcement rocked the tennis world and was warmly received by current and former players.