Serena Williams Returns to Wimbledon for One More Grand Slam Swing

Serena Williams is back. The tennis legend, whose last singles match on the WTA tour was at the 2022 U.S. Open, has accepted a wild-card invitation to compete at Wimbledon, which begins on June 29.

Williams, 44, will also compete in doubles at Wimbledon, playing with her older sister, Venus Williams.

Serena Williams has won Wimbledon seven times, though not since 2016. Her last Grand Slam title came in 2017, when she won her seventh Australian Open. When you throw in her six U.S. Open titles and three French Open championships, that's 23 career Grand Slams - one shy of the all-time record. Margaret Court holds the women's record with 24 Grand Slams, a mark that is shared with Novak Djokovic on the men's side. For the record, Steffi Graf has the third-most women's majors with 22.

This is not a drill.@serenawilliams will compete in the 2026 ladies' singles at #Wimbledon as a wild card. pic.twitter.com/1vHnDEQ4xm

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 21, 2026

So is Serena's return to the court strictly about a passion for the sport? Or is this one last-ditch effort to get that magical 24th major? After winning her 23rd title in Australia (defeating Venus in the finals), Serena reached the finals at a Grand Slam four more times - losing twice at Wimbledon (2018-19) and twice at the U.S. Open (2018-19). All four losses came in straight sets.

Serena has played a few doubles matches at grass-court tournaments in recent weeks, but she has not played any singles matches on grass leading up to Wimbledon. Having been away from tennis for nearly four full years, she has no ranking - which means she will ikely face a highly ranked opponent in the first round. Iga Swiatek is the defending Wimbledon women's champion. Aryna Sabalenka is the World No. 1 player.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 12:28 PM.