American tennis icons Serena and Venus Williams are set for a nostalgic reunion at Wimbledon after being awarded a wildcard entry into the women’s doubles draw at the All England Club.
The 44-year-old Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion with seven Wimbledon titles to her name, is in the midst of a remarkable comeback.
She returned to competitive tennis at Queen’s Club last week—four years after playing what many assumed would be her final match at the 2022 US Open.
She is currently sharpening her game in Berlin this week, partnering Karolina Muchova in doubles, before she joins forces with her older sister on the Wimbledon stage.
Venus, 45, a five-time Wimbledon singles champion, has endured a challenging season on the singles court, losing all seven of her matches this year.
However, she showed encouraging form in doubles back in April when she partnered Britain’s Katie Boulter to victory at the Madrid Open.
Neither sister features on the list of singles wildcards, though one remaining spot in the singles draw has yet to be allocated, leaving the door slightly ajar for a late addition.
Elsewhere in the wildcard announcements, former British number one Dan Evans—who is set to retire after what will be his final tournament—missed out on a men’s singles main-draw place.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, also calling time on his career at the end of the season, was granted a wildcard alongside Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.
On the women’s side, French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska earned a wildcard as a reward for her impressive run at Roland Garros.
Wimbledon begins on Monday, 29 June, with all eyes firmly on the Williams sisters as they prepare to write what could be another memorable chapter in their legendary tennis story.
