Serena Williams will make a dramatic return to Wimbledon - a year after playing her last game of tennis.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has been a stranger to the courts since injuring her leg in SW19 during last year’s first round. In her absence, Williams has dropped to 1,208 in the world rankings but today let the cat out of the bag that she will be back to reclaim her crown ahead of the 2022 edition of the grass-court grand slam.
Posting an image on Instagram to her 14.9 million followers showing her trainers on grass, Williams wrote: “SW and SW19. It's a date. 2022, see you there.”
Her post led Wimbledon to bring forward their wild card announcement and confirm that the 40-year-old will, indeed take part in the 2022 Championships, which start on Monday week.
With doubts over the participation of Andy Murray due to an abdominal strain he picked up in Sunday’s Stuttgart final, Williams’ presence is a major boost for organisers.
The 40-year old will warm up for Wimbledon in the doubles at Eastbourne next week, having accepted a wild card. She will partner Tunisia’s world No.4 Ons Jabeur.
She said: “I am excited to return to the Rothesay International tournament in England and to be back on the grass - a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career.
"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.”
Williams could have entered Wimbledon using a protected ranking specially reserved for players who have been sidelined through a long-term injury, but she opted not to do so to ensure she needs a wildcard berth to participate. Neither Williams nor elder sister Venus was on the Wimbledon entry list when it was released last week.
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Williams won the last of her seven Wimbledon singles titles in 2016, but she reached the final in 2018 and 2019 after returning from maternity leave. Williams could potentially compete in the women's or mixed doubles at SW19, as she has won the women’s doubles title alongside Venus six times while she linked up with Murray in the mixed event in 2019.
The 40-year-old first played in the singles event at Wimbledon 24 years ago in 1998, when she was a bright-eyed 16-year-old prodigy. Williams has only missed the tournament on three occasions, including when she was pregnant with daughter Olympia in 2017 while reigning champion.
She reached the final in 2018 where she lost to Angelique Kerber, and followed it up with another final defeat to Simona Halep. However, her latest attempt to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slams ended in tears on Centre Court 12 months ago, as Williams was forced to retire against Aliaksandra Sasnovich after slipping and sustaining an injury.
The issue meant Williams was forced to miss the US Open and the Australian Open that followed, while speculation suggested she could retire and never return to the WTA circuit. Long-term coach Patrick Mouratoglou revealed he had begun working with Halep in April, before Williams suggested she was targeting a return to on-court action at Wimbledon.
