After finally making her long-awaited comeback to the Tour this past weekend at the Eastbourne International, where she competed in doubles, Serena Williams will pick up where she left off in her pursuit of a 24th Grand Slam singles championship in this month’s Wimbledon tournament.
The leg injury that caused the former world number one tennis player to cry and hobble out of her first-round match at the grasscourt major last year has prevented her from playing competitive tennis ever since. The grasscourt major is where she has won seven of her 23 trophies.
The woman, who is 40 years old and currently ranked 1208th, required a wildcard from the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the organisation that is in charge of running Wimbledon, in order to play in the main draw of the women’s singles competition.
However, Serena will begin her Eastbourne campaign by pairing up with Ons Jabeur, the fourth-ranked player in the world, for the doubles competition that begins this coming weekend.
“SW as well as SW19. It will be a date. 2022 She sent a message on Instagram on Tuesday that said, “See you there,” making a reference to the postcode of the AELTC, which is home to Wimbledon.
According to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) of Britain, it is unlikely that the combination of Serena, who has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles wins, and Jabeur would play their first match in the WTA 250 competition before Tuesday. Serena has also won 14 Grand Slam singles titles.
According to a statement released by the Ladies Tennis Association (LTA), Serena remarked, “I am pleased to return to the Rothesay International event in England and to be back on the grass – a surface that has been so nice to me throughout my career.”
“Eastbourne has a certain allure that is incomparable to anywhere else on Tour, and I’m looking forward to performing in front of the enthusiastic crowd once again.”
Since Serena won her most recent Grand Slam win at the 2017 Australian Open, she has been on the lookout for a coveted 24th major championship, which would tie her with Australian Margaret Court for the most major victories in women’s tennis history.
Since she returned to the Tour in 2017 after taking a year off to have her daughter Olympia, she has competed in the final of four major tournaments but has been eliminated in straight sets each time.
The first round of Wimbledon’s main tournament will begin on June 27.
Tim Henman, a member of the Wimbledon board who competed in the event and reached the semi-finals four times, said, “It is an excellent selection on the women’s side.”
“Serena asked for [a wild card] a few of weeks ago, and she is going to compete in Eastbourne,” said the tournament director. She should get a nice opportunity to practise on grass, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for her.
In 2016, Serena Williams won the last of her seven singles championships at Wimbledon. However, she advanced to the final in both 2018 and 2019.
She made a heartbreaking departure last year after quitting during the first set against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to a leg injury, and concerns had been increasing about whether she would return to the sport. Last year’s match was the first time she had retired during a match due to a leg ailment.
Patrick Mouratoglou, who had been her long-time coach, said in April that he had begun working with Simona Halep in a different capacity.
The remaining positions on the wild card list were dominated by players from the United Kingdom. Players like Katie Boulter and Liam Broady were able to secure a berth in the singles main draw.
The Swiss three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who has returned from a long-term foot injury this season, and the Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven, who won the final of the s’Hertogenbosch grass court tournament by defeating the Russian Daniil Medvedev on Sunday, will also be competing alongside them.