Since suffering an ankle injury during her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon 2021, the American has not stepped on court to play a professional match. (File)Serena Williams has been awarded a wildcard entry to Wimbledon this year, the All England Club announced on Monday. The event will mark her first competitive singles appearance since last year’s edition, where she was forced to retire in the first round against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The stage awaits.
Our 7-time champion @serenawilliams will return to Wimbledon as a wild card this summer for her 21st appearance pic.twitter.com/7ddMAv7mOq
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 14, 2022
Wimbledon’s announcement came shortly after Williams had triggered an excited reaction among tennis fans on Tuesday, all but confirming her participation at the event through an Instagram post.“SW and SW19. It’s a date. 2022 See you there,” she wrote.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced on Monday that Williams will play one tournament in the leadup to SW19 at the WTA 500 event at Eastbourne, held a week prior to the start of Wimbledon, where she has accepted a wildcard to play doubles alongside World No. 4 Ons Jabeur.
“I am excited to return to the Rothesay International tournament in England and to be back on the grass – a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career. Eastbourne has a unique charm that you don’t see anywhere else on Tour and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again,” Williams said as per the LTA’s website. The American has played the event only twice before, in 1998 and 2011.
The Queen of tennis is coming to Eastbourne 👑#RothesayInternational
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 14, 2022
Williams, who has fallen as low as World No. 1208 now, would have gotten direct entry to the women’s singles main draw at SW19 this year due to her Protected Ranking (PR), given to players injured for six months or longer, had she been on the entry list in time for the deadline.
No ranking points are on offer at the All England Club this year, so Williams is confirmed to drop out of the rankings altogether after she drops the 10 points she has from her first-round loss at the event last year. A lot more is at stake for the 40-year-old though.
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Williams has won a total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, putting her second in the all-time list, just one behind Margaret Court’s total of 24. Wimbledon may well be a longshot for her after returning from a long-term injury, but if the American is to make a full-fledged comeback on tour, she could be targetting the US Open in August to tie Court’s record.
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