Serena Williams will return to Wimbledon for ladies’ singles in 2026 after receiving a wild card entry. The 44-year-old will play her first Grand Slam singles match since stepping away from professional tennis in 2022, with Wimbledon set to begin on June 29, 2
Serena Williams knew the timing would land with a thud—and the internet didn’t have to wait long to find out.
On June 21. Wimbledon confirmed her return to the grass-court scene with an Instagram post that read. “This is not a drill. ” captioned alongside a photo of Williams on the court with the words “Serena Returns.” The 44-year-old tennis legend has been handed a wild card entry for the 2026 Wimbledon Championships. putting her in ladies’ singles action for the year ahead.
For many fans, the excitement comes with a simple question: how does it feel to watch Serena hunt points again at a Grand Slam after time away? She will play her first singles match at a Grand Slam since stepping away from professional tennis in 2022.
The news arrives just a week after Wimbledon’s update that Serena will reunite with her sister, Venus Williams, in doubles competition as wild cards. That earlier post carried the message “Back together, at Wimbledon,” with a picture of the Williams sisters on the court.
Wimbledon’s calendar for 2026 shows how quickly the attention will shift from anticipation to action. The 2026 Wimbledon Championships will start on Monday. June 29. 2026. with two days of singles matches before doubles begins on Wednesday. July 1. and mixed doubles on Friday. July 3. The event is scheduled to run for two weeks until the finals.
While fans wait for that opening week, Serena has already been testing her form this month. She resumed her doubles career at the Queen’s Club Championship in London on June 9. 2026. partnering with Victoria Mboko of Canada. The pair defeated America’s Nicole Melichar-Martinez and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, but the run ended shortly after.
Mboko sustained a knee injury after slipping on the grass during the second set of her singles match on June 10 against Karolina Pliskova. Not long after that setback. Serena continued her schedule elsewhere: on June 16. Serena and her partner Karolina Muchova competed in doubles at the Berlin Open in Germany. but they were defeated in the first round after losing straight sets to Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos.
The last time Serena played a singles match before her “four-year break” came at the 2022 US Open, when she faced Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. Serena lost to Tomljanovic in the third round, and even then she was reluctant to call the break a retirement.
Speaking at a conference in San Francisco while promoting Serena Ventures. her investment company. she said. “The chances (of a return) are very high. You can come to my house. I have a court. I still haven’t thought about (retirement).” (via Sky Sports). In August 2022, she also told Vogue, “I’ve been thinking this as a transition. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis. toward other things that are important to me.”.
What kept the door open for her comeback, she’s said more recently, is personal. At the Berlin Tennis Open, Serena shared that her eight-year-old daughter, Olympia, has been an inspiration. “She’s always right, I was like, okay. 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.’”.
Even beyond tennis, her next steps are already taking shape. Following Wimbledon, Serena is set to make her Fantastic Fest debut in July 2026, alongside other sports legends including Tom Brady, John Cena, Jordan Chiles, and Novak Djokovic.
Serena’s return to Wimbledon singles brings with it the weight of what she’s already done there. Over the course of her career. she has won 23 Grand Slam titles in singles and 14 in doubles. all with Venus. including six of those Wimbledon doubles titles. She also won the singles and doubles titles at the 2012 London Olympics.
Whether the trophy comes or not, Serena Williams is set to step back onto the court where her legacy was built—this time with singles stakes, on the world’s biggest stage.
Serena Williams Wimbledon 2026 wild card ladies singles Venus Williams Queen's Club Championship Berlin Open Olympia Fantastic Fest
Not a drill?? lol Wimbledon really be doing PR like that.
Wild card at 44 is insane. I thought she retired for good though, like 2022 and done. Still tho, if she’s healthy she’ll smoke some people on grass.
So is she playing singles or just doubles? The article says singles wild card but then it talks about Venus too. I’m confused because I swear I saw something about her not doing singles anymore.
Man Wimbledon timing with the “Serena Returns” post like a week before is kinda crazy. But also, wild card feels like favoritism? Like other players gotta qualify while she just gets in. Also June 29, June 21… these dates are messed up in the story, unless I’m reading it wrong. Either way I’ll watch but not gonna pretend it’s fair.