LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) – American great Serena Williams will return to Wimbledon with her sister Venus following a four-year absence after the All England Club gave the pair a doubles wildcard on Tuesday and added a fascinating storyline to this year’s tournament.
Serena has 23 Grand Slam singles titles, including seven at Wimbledon, and has also captured six doubles titles at the All England Club playing alongside her older sibling.
The 44-year-old made a long-awaited comeback this month at the Queen’s Club Championships, playing doubles with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko.
That partnership was cut short after Mboko suffered a knee injury that ruled her out of Wimbledon.
Williams is now gearing up for the grasscourt Grand Slam beginning on June 29 by playing doubles in Berlin this week partnering Karolina Muchova.
Her last match at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she also needed a wildcard and lost to Harmony Tan in the first round.
Wildcards are handed to players whose ranking does not allow them automatic entry and are usually reserved for high-profile players returning from injury or those from the home nation.
But when Williams announced she was returning to the match court after her decision four years ago to “evolve away from tennis” it was likely she would gain a Wimbledon wildcard.
Among those receiving wildcards on the men’s side were three-times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who is set to retire at the end of the season, and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.
Organisers have two more men’s singles slots to fill, with 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the reckoning alongside Dan Evans, Nick Kyrgios and Gael Monfils.
French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska of Poland was among the beneficiaries on the women’s singles side, where one slot remains to be filled. A second batch of wildcards is expected this week.
In doubles, Katie Boulter and fellow Briton Heather Watson were given a wildcard as a pair.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman and Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
