Serena Williams gets Wimbledon singles wild card at 44

Serena Williams will compete in singles at Wimbledon after the All England Club announced Sunday that it had awarded the 44-year-old the final ladies' singles wild card, setting up her first Grand Slam singles appearance since the 2022 US Open.nypost+1

A Return to Centre Court

Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion and 23-time Grand Slam title winner, had already been confirmed for the ladies' doubles alongside her sister Venus after the pair received a wild card on June 16. At the time, one women's singles wild card remained unallocated, and Williams had not ruled out competing individually.espn+1

The Championships begin June 29 and run through July 12. Williams will now contest both singles and doubles during the fortnight.wikipedia

The Comeback Trail

Williams announced her return to professional tennis in late May after nearly four years away from the WTA Tour. She re-entered the International Tennis Integrity Agency's drug-testing pool — a requirement for competition — and made her comeback at the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club in London earlier this month, playing doubles with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.espn+1

She then entered the Berlin Open, where she and Karolína Muchová lost in the first round of doubles on June 16. The singles wild card represents a dramatic escalation of her comeback ambitions; as recently as June 8, Williams said she was focused on doubles and unsure about a return to singles.olympics+1

What It Means

Williams last played a singles match at the 2022 US Open, where she announced her departure from the sport at age 40. Her return to the Wimbledon singles draw — where she last lifted the trophy in 2016 — will test whether her game can hold up against a field nearly two decades younger. She enters without a ranking, relying entirely on wild cards to access tournaments.nytimes