Wild card for the 40-year-old
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Serena Williams makes Wimbledon comeback
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Serena Williams in action at Wimbledon. (Archive)
Photo: dpa/Alastair Grant
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London After a year break, Serena Williams continues her exceptional career. In Wimbledon, the 40-year-old is chasing the Grand Slam record. A German competitor is looking forward to the comeback – with one small caveat.
A year after her heartbreaking farewell to a long break, Serena Williams makes a surprise return to the tennis tour at Wimbledon. In four short sentences, the longtime world number one announced that she would continue her exceptional career and with it the hunt for the Grand Slam title record. “SW and SW19. it’s a date 2022 See you there. Let’s go,” wrote the 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner on social media on Tuesday. The 40-year-old American received a wild card for the lawn classic, as the organizers announced a little later.
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SW19 stands for the London district of Wimbledon – the seven-time winner played her last match at the All England Club there. In the first set of the first round, Williams had to give up injured against Alexandra Sasnovich from Belarus and left the court with a raised racket in his right hand, the left on his heart and tears in his eyes. Since then, she has been in the public eye primarily as the mother of her daughter Olympia and as a businesswoman.
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Andrea Petkovic is looking forward to Williams’ comeback – with one small caveat. “It was cool news, one that made me happy – with the tick that hopefully I won’t be drawn against them in the first round,” said the 34-year-old from Darmstadt, laughing, after winning the first round of the lawn tournament in Berlin. Williams’ return is “great” for women’s tennis, said Petkovic.
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Williams also posted the image of two legs in tennis shoes on grass. She was recently absent from the entry list for Wimbledon, but can start with a wildcard in the tournament that starts on June 27th. However, this threatens her with a difficult opponent right from the start. Williams has currently slipped to position 1208 in the world rankings.
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In the week leading up to Wimbledon, Williams will play doubles with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur at the WTA tournament in Eastbourne to warm up for Wimbledon. She is happy to be “back on the lawn,” Williams said in a statement from the organizers. “An underground that has been so good to me throughout my career.”
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With another Grand Slam title, Serena Williams would equal Australia’s Margaret Court’s record. At Wimbledon, the American probably has the best chance of securing her 24th triumph at one of the four largest tournaments. Since the last Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2017 and the subsequent baby break due to the birth of her daughter, Williams has been in the final four times, but has always had to admit defeat. In 2018, Angelique Kerber prevailed against Williams in the final.
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Due to her long absence from the professional tour, there had recently been speculation about a possible imminent resignation. These were fueled when their long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou announced a collaboration with the Romanian Simona Halep in April. Williams has now ended this speculation about the end of his career himself.
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