Serena Williams handed wild card entry for Wimbledon return
By Sammy Mngqosini and Amy Woodyatt, CNN
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams will make her much-anticipated return to the grass courts of SW19 when the tournament kicks off later this month, after being handed a wild card entry to arguably the most famous tennis tournament in the world.
Williams will compete in ladies’ singles, according to an announcement from Wimbledon Tuesday.
The American also hinted at the highly anticipated news: “SW and SW19,” Williams posted on Instagram Tuesday. “It’s a date. 2022, see you there.” SW19 is the postcode district in Southwest London incorporating Wimbledon, among other boroughs.
The social media post showed her standing on a grass court with white sneakers on.
Williams has not played competitively since an injury forced her to retire in a first-round match at Wimbledon last year.
The 23-time major champion last reached the Wimbledon final in 2019 where she lost to Simona Halep, who now works with Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Williams will first make her return to the court in Eastbourne next week for the LTA’s Rothesay International, pairing up with Tunisia’s world No. 4 Ons Jabeur for the doubles event, in what will be her first tournament appearance in almost a year, according to the tournament.
Widely considered to be the GOAT of women’s tennis, 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams says she’s still aiming to beat Margaret Court’s record of 24.
“I should have been at like 30 or 32 (grand slam singles titles),” Williams told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour earlier this year.
“I should have had it (the record), really, I’ve had many opportunities to have it. But I’m not giving up.”
Williams was forced to miss January’s Australian Open following the advice of her medical team, announcing in December that she wasn’t “where I need to be physically to compete.”
Wimbledon is scheduled for June 27 to July 10 at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
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Jill Martin, Alicia Lloyd and Christiane Amanpour contributed reporting.
