During this year’s French Open – one of the worst slams I’ve ever seen for men’s tennis – Serena Williams announced that she planned to come back to the tennis tour and play doubles at some grass-court tournaments. She was given doubles wildcards to Queen’s Club and the Berlin tournament. At Queen’s Club, Serena looked a bit rusty at times, but she was still hitting the ball cleanly and she and Vicky Mboko won one match before Mboko got injured and had to pull out of doubles. Serena then went to Berlin and she lost her first doubles match there, with partner Karolina Muchova. Serena then went directly to Wimbledon to practice. Wimbledon promptly gave Serena and Venus Williams a wildcard to compete in doubles. People were happy, and we believed that Serena was still committed to playing doubles-only. But then, on Sunday, Wimbledon announced that they were giving Serena a wildcard for singles too.

Serena Williams is making another major tennis comeback.

The tennis star, 44, is set to compete in the 2026 ladies’ singles at Wimbledon as a wild card, the tournament announced on its official Instagram account on Sunday, June 21.

“This is not a drill,” Wimbledon captioned the post, which featured a photo of Serena on a grass court alongside the words, “Serena Returns.”

The news comes less than a week after the announcement that Serena would reunite with her former doubles partner, sister Venus Williams, 46, to play at Wimbledon, also as wild cards, when the tournament begins on June 29.

Wimbledon’s Instagram account shared the news alongside a photo of the sisters on the court together, writing, “Back together, at Wimbledon.”

[From People]

At Queen’s Club and Berlin, I thought Serena did a good job at managing people’s expectations. I believed her when she talked about simply wanting to go out and enjoy competing again. Serena also probably believed that she would get more court time too – I mean, she’s only played two matches in two weeks in her big comeback. I guess I’m worried that playing singles puts much bigger expectations on her shoulders. But whatever – Serena has nothing else to prove, she’s already one of the GOATs. It will be fascinating to see her draw too, I have a feeling that she’ll end up facing a top-ten player in the first or second round. Elena Rybakina got her ass once on clay, but Serena beat Aryna Sabalenka the one time they played. Serena’s never played Coco Gauff or Iga Swiatek or a lot of these younger girls though.

Andy Murray got a chance to chat with Serena at Queen’s Club and he spoke about her with the BBC. I have to imagine a lot of the older guys watched this year’s French Open and thought the same thing as Serena – “These younger players are scrubs, I could come back and win something.” All year, I’ve been thinking about how Roger Federer could come back today and probably made a semifinal slam run or better, given the current state of the men’s tour.

"To see Serena back on court, it's brilliant for tennis." 🙌

Andy Murray has spoken! pic.twitter.com/frUq5fJpFj

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 21, 2026

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

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.