American tennis great Serena Williams will make a stunning return to singles action at this year’s Wimbledon after being handed the final wildcard by the All England Club on Sunday.
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who has 23 grand slam titles in all, was already assured of a return to the championships for the first time in four years after accepting a doubles wildcard with sister Venus.
Wimbledon’s X account posted: “This is not a drill. @serenawilliams will compete in the 2026 ladies’ singles at #Wimbledon as a wild card.”
She had stepped away from competitive tennis after 2022’s US Open, pointedly avoiding specific mention of retirement but instead saying she was “evolving away from tennis”.
Serena suffered a disappointing defeat in her second doubles comeback match last week at the German Open alongside Czechia’s Karolina Muchova, with the pair losing 6-4, 6-4 to Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos.
Williams and Victoria Mboko had defeated Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez at the Queen’s Club tournament. However, Mboko was forced to withdraw from their next match and the remainder of the grass-court season after tearing her medial collateral ligament.
This story will be updated