Serena Williams has revealed she will be returning to the tennis court for the first time in a year, after it was announced she has been granted a singles wildcard to play at Wimbledon.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion took to Instagram to share the news – after teasing fans with the caption: “I’m thinking of something that may make you go bananas – stay tuned!”
On Tuesday night, Williams posted a photo of her white trainers on grass with the caption: “SW and SW19. It’s a date. 2022, see you there.”
It comes after Williams suffered an injury during her first-round match at last year’s Wimbledon tournament, and having not played since then, she has dropped to 1,208 in the world rankings.
But Wimbledon won’t be the first opportunity for Williams to pick up her racket once again, with the 40-year-old making her return to tennis at next week’s Eastbourne International after also being granted a wildcard – this time in the doubles competition with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, as reported by news.com.au.
“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,” Williams said.
“Eastbourne has a unique charm that you don’t see anywhere else on tour and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again.”
Her upcoming appearance at Wimbledon is expected to be Williams’ best chance of claiming a 24th Grand Slam singles title, equalling Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Wimbledon board member Tim Henman, who reached four semi-finals at the tournament, said Williams had actually requested the wildcard several weeks ago.
“It is a good selection on the women’s side,” Henman said.
“Serena requested (a wildcard) actually a couple of weeks ago and she is going to play down at Eastbourne. Hopefully she will get a good chance of getting some grass court preparation in.”
Image: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.