Serena Williams will play singles at Wimbledon ... once she’s done with ‘duck duck goose’
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- Serena Williams will make a singles return at Wimbledon as a wild card after nearly four years away.
- Unranked at age 44, Williams could face top seeds such as Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka early, yet still has a chance to tie Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record.
- Her comeback has unfolded through recent doubles appearances in London and Berlin, and she will also team with sister Venus at Wimbledon.
Serena Williams’ evolution back to tennis continued Sunday with the announcement that the sport had been eagerly anticipating.
“Just finished a mean game of duck duck goose,” Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and mother of two, wrote on social media hours after the All-England Club announced she received a wild card to play singles at Wimbledon, which begins June 29.
An eighth Wimbledon singles title for the 44-year-old legend would seem unlikely. Williams’ four-year hiatus has left her unranked, which could mean early matches against such players as defending champion Iga Swiatek or world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Still, Williams has the opportunity to tie Margaret Court for the most women’s Grand Slam singles titles. Court won 13 of her 24 Grand Slams before the Open Era began in 1968; before that, only amateurs were allowed to compete in Grand Slam tournaments. Williams is considered the record-holder for the Open Era.
The Williams sisters — Venus, 45, and Serena, 44 — will bring back their record-setting doubles partnership at Wimbledon beginning June 29.
Also, Williams could move into a tie with Helen Wills Moody for the second-most titles at the tournament. Martina Navratilova holds the record with nine Wimbledon championships.
Williams famously avoided the word “retirement” when she announced she was “evolving away from tennis” in August 2022. The following month, after losing to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the U.S. Open, Williams registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
After nearly four years away from competitive tennis, Williams’ comeback is in full swing. First came a doubles pairing with Canadian Victoria Mboko at the HSBC Queen’s Club Championships in London this month.
The pair won their opening match against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand 7-6 (2), 6-2 on June 9 but had to forfeit the next round after Mboko injured her left knee in a fall during a singles match.
Serena Williams’ return to tennis at the HSBC lasted only one match because playing partner Victoria Mboko was injured. Williams will have a new partner next week.
Last week, Williams partnered with Czech star Karolína Muchová at the WTA 500 Berlin Open, where they lost their opening match to Giuliana Olmos of Austria and Routliffe 6-4, 6-4.
On Tuesday, the All England Club announced that Williams and sister Venus accepted a doubles wild card invitation for Wimbledon. The Williams sisters have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon.
At that point, one wild card remained open for women’s singles — a fact that a reporter mentioned to Williams last week during a news conference in Berlin and asked if she might take it. Williams played coy in her response.
Kim Ng, former Dodgers executive and MLB’s first female general manager, is now commissioner of Athletes Unlimited Softball League.
“Oh my gosh, there’s some left?” Williams said. “We better get to practice.”
The reporter pressed with his question.
“That’s the question of the hour, right?” Williams said. “I don’t know.”
Williams remained low-key about her singles return Sunday, her only acknowledgment a repost of Wimbledon’s announcement on her Instagram Story.
