Serena and Venus Williams Land Wimbledon Doubles Wildcard for 6-Time Champions' Return

Q: After their Wimbledon doubles reunion, will Serena Williams make a full return to singles?

Serena Williams appears to be aiming for a singles return, but she has not committed to a full comeback yet. The clearest evidence is her own wording. After returning in doubles this month, Williams said she wants to play singles but needs more training and will see whether she gets there. That makes her intention real, but conditional. It also fits her current schedule: so far, her comeback has been built around doubles at Queen’s, Berlin and now Wimbledon, a lower-impact route as she rebuilds match fitness on grass. Wimbledon’s decision also suggests caution rather than certainty. Serena and Venus received a doubles wildcard, but Serena was not given a singles wildcard, although one women’s singles spot remains open. If Wimbledon believed she was fully ready for singles now, that decision might have looked different. There are signs that a singles return is plausible. Williams re-entered the anti-doping pool months ago, a necessary step for any serious comeback. She has also used doubles as a bridge to singles before, including in 2022 ahead of Wimbledon. Analysts such as Andy Roddick believe her ambitions go beyond doubles, especially on grass, her best surface. Still, the facts at this point are narrower than the speculation. Serena is back in competition, she wants singles, and Wimbledon doubles is part of that process. Whether that becomes a full singles return after this reunion remains undecided.

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 16

Wimbledon granted Serena Williams, 44, and Venus Williams, 45, a women's doubles wildcard, bringing the sisters back together at the All England Club.
Serena is extending a comeback that began at Queen's last week—four years after her 2022 US Open farewell was widely seen as her last match—and is also playing doubles in Berlin.
Neither sister received a singles wildcard, though one women's singles spot remains open; Venus has lost all 7 of her singles matches this season.
Elsewhere in the wildcard list, Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov made the men's singles field, while retiring Briton Dan Evans was left out ahead of Wimbledon starting on 29 June.