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Serena and Venus Williams will rekindle their doubles partnership at Wimbledon this month after receiving a wildcard into the women’s doubles draw. The All England Club announced the recipients on Tuesday morning in one of the most highly anticipated wildcard announcements in recent memory considering Serena’s return this month after four years of retirement.
Serena, a seven-times singles champion, did not request a singles wildcard and the 44-year-old has remained coy about whether she plans to return for singles. Venus, a five-time singles champion, has also not received a singles wildcard. Venus has competed on the tour since her debut in 1994, only stopping due to health-related issues. She turns 46 on Wednesday.
Wimbledon had some more complicated decisions to make. Maja Chwalinska, who reached the French Open women’s singles final as a qualifier, has also received a wildcard. Despite not making the rankings cut for Wimbledon, with the deadline coming just before the French Open, Chwalinska will assume the rare status of being a wildcard and a seeded player at a grand slam tournament due to her sharp jump. She is ranked No 21.
They have also awarded singles wildcards to the veterans Stan Wawrinka, who will retire this year, and Grigor Dimitrov. Britain’s Dan Evans, who will retire after the Championships, is not on the initial singles list, but he has received a doubles wildcard alongside his compatriot Henry Searle.
Serena will take the next step in her comeback today when she competes with Karolina Muchova, the singles No 10, in the first round of the Berlin WTA tournament against Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos. She returned to competition last week at Queen’s Club, winning her first match with Victoria Mboko against Routliffe and Nichole Melichar Martinez.
However, Mboko was forced to withdraw from their next match and the remainder of the grass court season after tearing her medial collateral ligament.
The Williams sisters are one of the most successful doubles pairings, winning 14 grand slam titles together, the joint-second highest in the open era, and six women’s doubles titles at Wimbledon, the highest in the open era. They have also won three Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles and reached No 1 in the WTA rankings.
