Serena Williams is making a singles comeback!
On Sunday, June 21, Wimbledon announced the tennis legend will compete in singles in the 2026 tournament after receiving a wild card entry.
Williams last played singles professionally at the 2022 U.S. Open, where she won two rounds before losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion began her comeback earlier this month with doubles appearances on grass, earning a wild card entry into the Wimbledon doubles draw alongside her sisterVenus. Now, she’s shifting back to the version of the game where she has historically been most dominant: singles.
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Speculation Williams was returning to professional tennis began in December 2025 when fans noticed the tennis legend had re-entered the list of players registered for the drug testing pool by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
However, Williams denied the rumors shortly after they began, writing on X, “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.”
The very next day, Serena applied for official retirement with the International Tennis Integrity Agency, meaning that she would no longer have to comply with random drug testing.
Shortly before her first retirement, Williams wrote an essay in Vogue about her decision to step away from tennis ahead of the 2022 U.S. Open. She purposely avoided using the word “retirement,” instead calling it an “evolution” away from the sport.
“I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” Williams wrote at the time. “A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family.”
William married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017, and the two share daughters Olympia, 8, and Adira, 2.
Wimbledon 2026 will run from June 29 to July 12, with the qualifying rounds taking place between June 22 – 25.
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