Williams enters Wimbledon singles draw in audacious return after four-year hiatus
The 44-year-old American will face an unknown opponent in the first round, with defending titleholder Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka among the favourites.
Serena Williams has accepted a wild card entry for the singles draw at Wimbledon, marking her first official singles match in nearly four years. The 44-year-old former world number one will learn her first-round opponent on Friday, with her opening match scheduled for next Monday or Tuesday. While she recently played two doubles warm-up matches with different partners, commentators describe her decision to enter the prestigious tournament without recent singles competition as a sign of confidence.
ESPN commentators Mary Joe Fernandez and Patrick McEnroe described her entry into the singles draw without recent singles competition as a sign of confidence and "Serena being Serena." Fernandez called it a sign of confidence that Serena is prepared to enter the sport’s most prestigious tournament without having played a singles match in so long. McEnroe added that it is very Serena-like to do something audacious like this and he did not think for one minute she was coming back to play doubles only.
Williams made her return this month by playing two doubles matches with two different partners. She won with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club and lost with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Open. Williams’ powerful serve and returns were on display but it remains to be seen how well she can cover the entire court and how much stamina she has for singles. With 23 Grand Slam singles titles — seven of them at Wimbledon — and 14 more in doubles (all with Venus as her partner), nobody is questioning her qualifications, experience or aura.
Despite her resume, Serena is by no means the favorite for the trophy. Among the top contenders are top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina and freshly crowned French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, who at 19 is 25 years younger than Serena. Sabalenka is looking to bounce back from a crushing defeat at Roland Garros, where she let a big lead slip away and didn’t win a game in the third set of a loss to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. Rybakina is known as one of the game’s best servers and her game adapts well to grass. Andreeva reached the quarterfinals in London last year and will have more confidence after her performance in Paris. Iga Swiatek is the defending champion and moves well on grass.
Since Serena has no ranking and won’t be seeded, she could potentially face any of the top players in the opening round. The Williams sisters’ opening doubles match will come later in the opening week. On the men's side, Jannik Sinner is favoured to defend his title, with Novak Djokovic as a key challenger, while Carlos Alcaraz is sidelined with a wrist injury.
