When is Serena Williams playing at Wimbledon and why has she returned to tennis?
Serena Williams will make her sensational return to singles competition at Wimbledon after being granted a wildcard to compete in this year’s tournament.
The 44-year-old, who has won 23 Grand Slam titles, played her last singles match at the US Open in 2022 in what was widely believed to be the final match of her long and illustrious career.
But crucially, Williams said she was ‘evolving away’ from tennis, rather than stating she was ‘retiring’, which left the door open to one day returning to the sport.
And so it has proven, with the seven-time Wimbledon champion set to dominate the headlines for however long she remains in the competition.
As well as competing in the singles, Williams has also been given a wildcard to compete in the ladies’ doubles with sister Venus, with whom she has won the doubles title on six previous occasions at Wimbledon.
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While Williams has yet to play competitively in singles upon her return, she has already had a taste of doubles, playing at Queen’s Club and in Berlin in the past few weeks.
Williams will play her first round match against Australian world number 53 Maya Joint on Tuesday, with an expected start time of around 4.20pm.
The match will take place on Centre Court.
Victory would see her claim her first singles win at Wimbledon since 2019, having been defeated in the first round in 2021 and 2022.
Her doubles campaign with Venus, meanwhile, will start with a match against Colombia’s Camila Osorio and Argentina’s Solona Sierra on Thursday.
Speculation over Williams’ return first started in December 2025 when her name appeared on the list of players registered for the sport’s drug testing pool – a requirement for any player wishing to play.
Williams swiftly denied the rumours by taking to social media to say: ‘Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.’
The speculation was indeed true, though, with her comeback confirmed when she was entered into the doubles competition at Queen’s.
Williams has said one of the reasons behind her return is her desire for her daughter’s to see her play tennis.
She was pregnant with her oldest daughter, Olympia, when she won the Australian Open in 2017 – the last Grand Slam title of her career to date – before giving birth to her second child, Adira, in 2023.
‘This whole journey, I am putting no pressure on myself. I had enough pressure. For me, right now, it’s so many elements… It’s about my kids getting to see me play.
‘Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. But it’s also, it’s just moments like that.
‘It’s also that an athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place. Having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting.’
Williams has also insisted her return is not motivated by a wish to add more titles to her already enviable collection of trophies.
‘I don’t need to win. I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives. For me, that’s not important. And it’s important I keep reminding myself that I don’t have anything to prove, anything to lose.
Williams’ Grand Slam tally is just one short of Margaret Court’s 24, which were won over both the Pre-Open Era and Open Era.
The tennis icon has spent a total of 319 weeks as the world number one and has completed the Golden Slam – winning all four Grand Slams and Olympic gold – in both doubles and singles.
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