Serena Williams return electrifies wide-open Wimbledon

LONDON – A decade after Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon singles title in 2016, the American trailblazer’s return to the June 29-July 12 Grand Slam adds a compelling new dimension to an already wide-open women’s draw.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, aiming to win her first Wimbledon title, will hope to climb from the deep, dark hole she fell into after collapsing to defeat in the French Open quarter-finals by Diana Shnaider earlier in June.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek will try to become the first player since Williams in 2016 to win back-to-back titles at the All England Club.

Fresh from her historic French Open triumph, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva will bring her audacious game to the pristine lawns.

Then there is Coco Gauff’s latest attempt to finally crack the grass-court puzzle, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina’s understated and often unplayable power game and a resurgent Emma Raducanu who is sweating on her fitness after suffering an injury scare days before the tournament.

But when Williams, 44, strides onto the centre court she once owned, there will be one story in town. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returns after a four-year absence, resuming a career that appeared over.

Granted the eighth and final singles wild card by Wimbledon organisers, her first competitive singles match since the 2022 US Open third round – against Australian Maya Joint – will guarantee soaring TV ratings and drive social media into a frenzy.

Williams’ comeback was one of the worst-kept secrets in tennis. She rejoined the anti-doping pool in December 2025 and has been putting in the hard yards with coach Rennae Stubbs.

Her formidable serve – one of the most potent weapons in the history of women’s tennis – was on show in her comeback match alongside Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club doubles event earlier in June, as was the easy baseline power.

Singles will be a different proposition, but it would be no surprise if she becomes the oldest woman to win a singles match at Wimbledon in the Open era since Martina Navratilova, aged 47 in 2004.

“Not having played a singles match in years, like a lot of years, and saying, ‘You know what, I think my first, dipping my toes back in is going to be at Wimbledon.’ I would have scheduled seven events,” former world No. 1 Andy Roddick said after Williams’ wild card was confirmed.

“Imagine being in Serena’s brain, where it’s like, ‘It’s going to be Wimbledon, I’m good enough, I can handle this, no problem.’

“That’s levels of confidence that I didn’t have... in my entire life,” he added.

Another former American Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport said Williams will only have come back if she felt she could make an “immediate impact”.

“It doesn’t get easy as you get older, and grass is a tough surface to start on,” the 50-year-old told the BBC.

“The ball goes very quick, very low and it’s very physical. It’s not going to be easy but if anyone could do it, certainly it could be her.”

Since Williams beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber to win the 2016 title, there have been eight first-time Wimbledon champions.

Such is the depth at the top of the women’s game.

In that decade, the likes of Naomi Osaka, Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Rybakina and the retired Ashleigh Barty have won multiple Grand Slam titles, but no one has dominated like Williams.

The last six Majors have been won by six different players, and while Belarusian powerhouse Sabalenka has been ranked No. 1 since October 2024, she appears vulnerable.

After her shock defeat at Roland Garros, her Wimbledon build-up featured another collapse as she lost a deciding set 6-0 to Jessica Pegula in Berlin.

Sabalenka’s emotional control will be fully tested at the All England Club, where she will be the favourite once again.

And what if she comes up against Williams?

“If you’re Sabalenka, and you play Serena, who hasn’t played in four years, she comes out and gets three or four (service) holds... there is no upside if you’re Sabalenka. Zero,” added Roddick.

REUTERS