SERENA WILLIAMS plans to end her tennis hiatus and play Wimbledon this month – at the age of 40.
The seven-time singles champion, who has 14.9million followers on Instagram, has today signalled her intention to play at the 2022 Championships.
Williams during last years Wimbledon
Serena Williams holds the 2017 Australian Open title – her most recent grand slam victory
Raducanu could face off against the 23-time grand slam champion
The social media message, which was accompanied by a photo of her wearing white Nike trainers on grass, simply said: “SW (Serena Williams) and SW19. It’s a date. See you there. Let’s go.”
Williams is set to play the Eastbourne International next week as a warm-up for Wimbledon and there is the tantalising prospect she could face reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the main draw.
It is almost a year since Williams tore her hamstring amid tearful scenes on Centre Court in the first round of the 2021 Wimbledon tournament.
The American was forced to withdraw after six completed games of the first set against Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and has not played competitively since then.
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It was in early April when she teased she may play at Wimbledon, posting a video backstage at a Bitcoin conference in Miami alongside Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback and 2011 Super Bowl champion.
In the clip, she said: “We have been talking about my comeback, he has been hyping me up, and getting me ready for Wimbledon. So, I cannot wait. Exciting.”
Williams, who is ranked 1,208 in the world due to her inactivity over the past year, would require a wildcard to play the tournament, which starts on June 27, but that is unlikely to be an issue given her status within the sport.
The Wimbledon wildcard selections are being announced at 10am on Wednesday by All England Club chiefs.
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And her presence would boost a tournament that has been stripped of its ranking points by the ATP and WTA Tours after they banned Russians and Belarussians from playing in SW19.
Williams’s 23rd and last major victory was the 2017 Australian Open – before she gave birth to daughter Olympia – and she has lost in four major finals since then.
She is only one major triumph away from equalling Margaret Court’s long-standing record of 24 singles Slams but it is unlikely she would be competitive after such a long break from the Tour.
One issue would be the involvement of coach Patrick Mouratoglou – would the Frenchman continue working with Williams now that he has joined forces with Simona Halep?
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The Romanian famously beat Williams in a one-sided singles final in south-west London in 2019.
In Men’s tennis, Andy Murray is in a race against time to be fit for Wimbledon after pulling out of Queen’s with a fresh injury scare.
