Serena Williams makes major Wimbledon announcement

Serena Williams is coming back to Wimbledon, and this time she's playing singles.

The tennis legend, 44, has been awarded a wild card to compete in the 2026 ladies' singles at Wimbledon, the tournament announced on its official Instagram account on Sunday, 21 June. 

"This is not a drill," the account captioned alongside a photo of Serena on a grass court and the words "Serena Returns." 

The tournament begins on 29 June.

The singles announcement follows news earlier this week that Serena would also be reuniting with her sister Venus Williams, 46, to play doubles at Wimbledon, both receiving wild cards for that event too.

Wimbledon marked that revelation with a photo of the two sisters on court together: "Back together, at Wimbledon."

It has been a busy and somewhat turbulent return to professional tennis for Serena. 

On 9 June she restarted her doubles career at the Queen's Club Championship in London after nearly four years away from the sport, partnering Canada's Victoria Mboko to defeat Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in straight sets. 

Two days later the pair were forced to withdraw after Mboko sustained a right knee injury. Serena then competed at the Berlin Open on 16 June, this time alongside Karolina Muchova, but the team lost in the first round.

Her last singles match was at the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round. At the time, she said she preferred to think of herself as "evolving" away from tennis rather than retiring.

What brought her back? Her eight-year-old daughter Olympia. 

"My daughter, Olympia, told me I should play with Venus," Serena told reporters in Berlin. "She's always right, so I was like, okay." 

She added: "She's very serious. She knows. She's very smart. She's very wise, I think, is a better word. So I said, 'Okay, Olympia, let's see if we can do it.'"

Wimbledon starts on 29 June. Serena Williams will be there.