Tennis: Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon alongside sister Venus

American Serena Williams is back at Wimbledon. The tournament organizers announced this Tuesday (16) that the champion of 23 Grand Slams received an invitation (wildcard) to compete in the doubles bracket alongside her sister Venus, creating one of the main attractions of this year's edition.

Serena, 44, has seven singles titles at Wimbledon and has also won six doubles trophies at the traditional British tournament, all alongside her older sister.

The former world number 1 returned to the courts this month after almost four years away, participating in the Queen's Club doubles tournament alongside 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko. The partnership, however, was interrupted after Mboko suffered a knee injury that ruled her out of Wimbledon.

Now, Serena is preparing for the grass Grand Slam, which starts on June 29th. Before the competition, she competes in the Berlin tournament this week forming a pair with Czech Karolina Muchova.

Serena's last participation in Wimbledon was in 2022, also with an invitation from the organization. At the time, she was eliminated in the first round by Frenchwoman Harmony Tan.

Wildcards are aimed at players who are not ranked high enough for direct entry and are usually offered to high-profile athletes, returning from injuries or representatives of the host country.

After announcing her retirement from tennis in 2022, saying she would "evolve away from the sport", Serena's return was already seen as a strong possibility of receiving an invitation to Wimbledon.

In the men's section, among the players considered are the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, three-time Grand Slam champion who announced that he will retire at the end of the season, and the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, former Wimbledon semifinalist.

The organization still has two men's singles vacancies to fill. Italian Matteo Berrettini, runner-up in 2021, appears among the candidates, alongside Dan Evans, Nick Kyrgios and Gael Monfils.

In the women's category, Polish Maja Chwalinska, runner-up at Roland Garros, received an invitation. There is still one place left in the women's singles draw, with a new list of invitations scheduled for this week.

In doubles, Brits Katie Boulter and Heather Watson also received a wildcard to compete together.

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Source: CNN