SERENA GETS WILDCARD FOR WIMBLEDON

LONDON: Serena Williams will return to Grand Slam tennis for the first time in a year at Wimbledon later this month after being handed a singles wildcard entry by the All England Club on Tuesday. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, who has not played since suffering an injury during her first-round match at Wimbledon 12 months ago, has plummeted to 1,208 in the world rankings.

Earlier on Tuesday, Williams had indicated she would be at Wimbledon, which begins on June 27, when she posted an image of her white trainers on grass on Instagram along with the caption: “SW and SW19. It’s a date. 2022, see you there.”

The 40-year-old will make her return to competitive tennis next week at the Eastbourne International, where she has been given a wildcard into the doubles with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur. “I am excited to return to the Rothesay International Eastbourne in England and to be back on the grass—a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career,” said Williams. “Eastbourne has a unique charm you don’t see anywhere else on tour and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again.”

Williams won the last of her seven Wimbledon titles in 2016 but reached the final in 2018 and 2019 after returning from having a baby. She made a tearful exit last year after retiring during the first set against Aliaksandra Sasnovich due to a leg injury and doubts had been growing about whether she would return to the sport. Her long-time coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, revealed in April that he had taken on a new role with Simona Halep.