The 23-time Major winner Serena Williams will compete at the upcoming Wimbledon. The most accomplished active player decided to change her mind and compete at one of her favorite events after not being on the initial entry list.
Serena will play her 20th Wimbledon, seeking the eighth title and an elusive 24th Major. Williams skipped Wimbledon in 1999, 2006 and 2017, and everyone thought that would be the case again in a couple of weeks. Serena has not played for a year due to an injury and will drop out of the WTA rankings for the first time since October 1997 despite her Wimbledon result.
Williams left Wimbledon in tears following a retirement against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the opening round a year ago. She will give it another shot in her quest for the 24th Major. After spending 25 years on the Tour and experiencing many setbacks due to injuries, Serena is still eager to compete against the world’s leading players and chase notable titles.
Serena Williams will enter this year’s Wimbledon.
She is currently ranked outside the top-1000 and will have to play more tournaments after the All England Club to find herself ranked again. Williams established herself as the top-10 player in 2000 and 2001, and she conquered the WTA throne in 2002 despite playing only nine tournaments!
Serena has remained competitive for two decades, winning 23 Major titles and moving one behind Margaret Court’s all-time record. After only six events on her tally and no Major finals, Serena finished the 2021 season ranked outside the top-40 for the first time since 2006.
The American veteran struggled with injuries and terminated the previous year after tearing her hamstring in the Wimbledon first round. Serena skipped the home Major in New York and decided to call it a year ahead of a possible fresh start in 2022.
That seemed very unlikely a couple of weeks ago, as we saw no footage of Serena on the tennis court for a while. Still, the American has shared the great news with her fans, and we will see her in action at the upcoming third Major of the season.
Williams claimed the 23rd Major crown at the Australian Open 2017 after beating her sister Venus in the final. The great American took a break from tennis to give birth to a child later that year and returned in the spring of 2018.
Highly motivated to get back where she belongs, Williams reached four Major finals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018 and 2019, losing them against much younger opponents and failing to match Court’s record. Serena has been dealing with numerous injuries in the past couple of years, and her best result at Majors came at the last year’s Australian Open.
She scored five wins and advanced into the final four, only to lose it to Naomi Osaka. Not playing for a year, Serena will try to raise her level on the practice court and show her best tennis at the beloved event where she has claimed seven titles from 11 finals.
Source: Tennis World USA