{"id":755758,"date":"2026-06-23T12:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/755758\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:13:12","slug":"serena-williams-could-make-wimbledon-history-with-her-singles-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/755758\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams could make Wimbledon history with her singles return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Serena Williams<\/a>\u2019 evolution back to tennis continued Sunday with the announcement that the sport had been eagerly anticipating.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust finished a mean game of duck duck goose,\u201d Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and mother of two, wrote on social media hours after the All-England Club announced<\/a> she received a wild card to play singles at Wimbledon, which begins June 29.<\/p>\n

An eighth Wimbledon singles title for the 44-year-old legend would seem unlikely. Williams\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Still, Williams has the opportunity to tie Margaret Court for the most women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Williams famously avoided the word \u201cretirement\u201d when she announced she was \u201cevolving away from tennis<\/a>\u201d in August 2022. The following month, after losing to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic<\/a> in the third round of the U.S. Open, Williams registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency.<\/p>\n

After nearly four years away from competitive tennis, Williams\u2019 comeback<\/a> is in full swing. First came a doubles pairing with Canadian Victoria Mboko at the HSBC Queen\u2019s Club Championships in London this month. <\/p>\n

The pair won their opening match<\/a> 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<\/a> after Mboko injured her left knee in a fall during a singles match.<\/p>\n

Last week, Williams partnered with Czech star Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1 at the WTA 500 Berlin Open, where they lost their opening match to Giuliana Olmos of Austria and Routliffe 6-4, 6-4. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

At that point, one wild card remained open for women\u2019s singles \u2014 a fact that a reporter mentioned to Williams last week during a news conference<\/a> in Berlin and asked if she might take it. Williams played coy in her response.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, there\u2019s some left?\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe better get to practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reporter pressed with his question. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the question of the hour, right?\u201d Williams said. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams remained low-key about her singles return Sunday, her only acknowledgment a repost of Wimbledon\u2019s announcement on her Instagram Story<\/a>.<\/p>\n