Williams sisters receive Wimbledon doubles wild card

Serena and Venus Williams will reunite at Wimbledon, bringing one of tennis’ most decorated doubles partnerships back to the All England Club after receiving a wild card into the women’s doubles draw.

The All England Club announced the invitation Tuesday, less than two weeks before the tournament begins. The decision follows Serena Williams’ return to competition this month after nearly four years away from professional tennis. The Guardian described the comeback as coming after four years of retirement.

Serena, 44, and Venus, who turns 46 on Wednesday, have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon. Their first Wimbledon doubles title came in 2000 and their most recent in 2016. The Guardian reported that their 14 major doubles titles are tied for the second-highest total in the Open era, while their six Wimbledon women’s doubles titles are the most in the Open era. The sisters also have won three Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles and reached No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

They last played doubles together at the 2022 U.S. Open, losing in the opening round. That match marked their first doubles appearance together in 4 1/2 years.

Serena has already begun her grass-court comeback. Last week at Queen’s Club in London, she won her first doubles match alongside Victoria Mboko against Erin Routliffe and Nichole Melichar-Martinez. The pair later withdrew after Mboko injured her knee in a singles match; The Guardian reported that Mboko tore her medial collateral ligament and would miss the rest of the grass-court season.

Serena was scheduled to continue her comeback Tuesday at the Berlin Open, partnering Karolina Muchova, the singles No. 10, in a first-round match against Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos.

Her singles plans remain unclear. CBS News reported that Serena has not ruled out a return in singles and that one of the eight women’s singles wild-card spots was left “to be announced.” The Guardian reported that Serena did not request a singles wild card. Venus, a five-time Wimbledon singles champion who has competed on tour since her 1994 debut except for health-related absences, also did not receive a singles wild card.

Wimbledon also announced several other wild cards. Maja Chwalinska, described by CBS News and The Guardian as a recent French Open finalist, received a women’s singles wild card. The Guardian reported that Chwalinska reached the French Open women’s singles final as a qualifier and, after a sharp rankings rise to No. 21, will have the unusual status of being both a wild card and a seeded player at a Grand Slam tournament.

Six British women also received singles wild cards: Harriet Dart, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Katie Swan and Mimi Xu.

On the men’s side, singles wild cards went to Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov and four British players: Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery, Jack Pinnington Jones and Toby Samuel. Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion whose best Wimbledon results were two quarterfinal appearances, plans to retire at the end of the year. Dimitrov, now ranked No. 169, led eventual champion Jannik Sinner two sets to none in last year’s round of 16 before retiring early in the third set with a pectoral injury.

Two men’s singles wild-card places remain open. Britain’s Dan Evans, who The Guardian reported will retire after the Championships, was not on the initial singles wild-card list but received a doubles wild card with Henry Searle.

In men’s doubles, Alexander Bublik and Nick Kyrgios received a wild card. Kyrgios was the Wimbledon singles runner-up in 2022. Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, was not included on the list despite reaching the French Open quarterfinals. CBS News reported that Berrettini, ranked No. 49, was outside the top 100 when Wimbledon’s entry list was set but could still enter the main draw directly depending on withdrawals.