Serena Williams to make singles comeback at Wimbledon

Serena Williams will make a surprise return to singles action at Wimbledon later this month after accepting a wildcard.

The 44-year-old has been given the final spot in the women's main draw - filling a gap left following the initial announcement on Tuesday.

Williams has played two doubles matches since making her competitive return earlier this month after a four-year absence.

She has won the Wimbledon singles title seven times but remains one short of Margaret Court's long-standing women's record of 24 Grand Slam wins.

Williams had already been given a wildcard to play alongside older sister Venus in the Wimbledon doubles.

But asked earlier this month if she would consider a singles return at SW19, she said: "You think I'm ready for singles? I need to get to work."

Williams has not won a singles match at Wimbledon since 2019, when she lost in the final to Romania's Simona Halep.

She spent 319 weeks at the top of the world rankings and has won 73 singles titles on the WTA Tour during an illustrious career.

She has also completed a career 'Golden Slam' in singles and doubles - winning all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold - and won every singles major at least three times.

Williams will discover her first-round opponent when the draw takes place on Friday, with the tournament getting under way on Monday, 29 June.

Williams won her first Wimbledon singles title in 2002 - beating sister Venus in the final - and repeated the feat a year later.

She won again in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016 - with her seventh triumph meaning she equalled Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 major singles titles.

After taking maternity leave in 2017, she reached the final on her next two Wimbledon appearances, but lost in straight sets to Angelique Kerber and Halep.

Her 2021 campaign ended after just six games as she retired injured against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and there were doubts she would return.

Given a wildcard in 2022, she was two points from victory against Harmony Tan before being edged out in a final-set tie-break.

Asked afterwards if that would be her final Wimbledon appearance, Williams said: "That's a question I can't answer. Who knows? Who knows where I'll pop up?"

Williams has won 14 titles at Wimbledon, with six women's doubles and one mixed doubles among her tally.

She also won Olympic singles and doubles gold on the same courts at the 2012 London Olympics.

Williams has won 107 of her 123 singles matches on grass courts, and it is the surface she has the best record on with an 87% win-rate.

Williams played what was widely expected to be the final match of her career at the 2022 US Open before "evolving away" from the sport.

But refusing to use the word 'retirement' always left the door ajar for a return.

She said the main motivation for her comeback was the prospect of her two daughters seeing her play.

Williams won the Australian Open while pregnant with eldest daughter Olympia and gave birth to her second child, Adira, in 2023.

Her daughters watched from the stands as their mother won the first doubles match of her return at Queen's alongside Victoria Mboko.

However, the pair had to withdraw from the tournament when Canadian teenager Mboko injured her knee in the singles.

Former world number one Williams then entered the doubles in Berlin, where she lost alongside Czech Karolina Muchova in their first-round match on Tuesday.

Afterwards, Williams remained coy when asked about the prospect of playing singles at Wimbledon, but returned to London the following day and started practising at SW19 on Thursday.

After her second doubles match in Berlin last week, Williams said she felt more nimble, sturdy and speedy - and a practice session on Sunday persuaded her the time was right for a singles return.

A singles comeback always seemed likely once she had committed herself to all the training, travelling and drug testing required of a professional athlete.

That it has come so soon is more surprising. Even as a seven-time singles champion, it is bold to make your return at Wimbledon having not played a singles match for nearly four years.

Williams' last Grand Slam title was nine years ago, and as an unranked player she could face one of the top seeds in the first round.

Martina Navratilova may, perhaps, prove an inspiration. She won a Grand Slam doubles title a month shy of her 50th birthday, and a singles match at Wimbledon at the age of 47.