Serena and Venus Will Return to Wimbledon

Serena and Venus Williams are heading back to Centre Court—together. Wimbledon has handed the sisters a wildcard into the women's doubles draw, reuniting one of tennis' most dominant pairings after Serena's four-year absence from the sport. Neither sister requested or received a singles wildcard, leaving their doubles run as the focus, reports the Guardian. Serena, 44, has kept quiet about any singles comeback; Venus, who turns 46 Wednesday and has played sporadically in recent seasons due to health issues, also remains out of the singles field. Team Williams has combined for 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles between 2000 and 2016, notes the AP; that includes six Wimbledon titles. They last played together at the 2022 US Open.

The wildcard list goes beyond the Williamses. French Open surprise finalist Maja Chwalinska, who surged to No. 21 after reaching the Roland Garros final, will hold the unusual distinction of being both a wildcard and a seed at Wimbledon. Veteran Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this year, and Grigor Dimitrov also received singles wildcards. Britain's Dan Evans, another player planning to retire after the Championships, missed out on singles but was granted a doubles spot with Henry Searle. Serena continues her return this week in Berlin, partnering with Karolina Muchova after winning a doubles match at Queen's Club in her first action since 2020.