Serena Williams has accepted the eighth and final women’s wild card to play in Wimbledon singles for the first time since 2018
The move follows a tumultuous month for Williams, who made a return to professional tennis earlier in June after an absence of almost four years, playing doubles at Queen’s Club alongside Victoria Mboko before the pair withdrew owing to a knee injury suffered by Mboko.
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
She subsequently teamed up with Karolina Muchova for a first-round loss in the Berlin Open. Williams had already been handed a doubles wild card for Wimbledon with sister Venus, their first partnership at the All England Club in a decade.
Wimbledon still hadn’t filled the final wild-card singles berth as Williams pondered her decision and she appeared genuinely torn in the days building up to the announcement.
She was startled to have a place after a doubles loss in Berlin, and even as recently as this week, she was still asking those around her, including Muchova, whether she should take it. Williams’ last singles match at a major was in the third round of the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic.
If she wins a match at this year’s tournament, she would become the fourth oldest woman in the Open Era to win a singles match at a Grand Slam.
Breaking: Serena Williams will compete in the 2026 ladies’ singles at Wimbledon as a wild card, Wimbledon announced. pic.twitter.com/CgSDRDYVJX
— ESPN (@espn) June 21, 2026
The long layoff means Williams has no singles ranking and could theoretically draw any opponent in the world when the draw is made Friday, including defending champion Iga Swiatek or top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.
Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, most recently in 2016, and says she is playing without pressure to win. The event starts June 29.
