Serena Williams misses out on revenge as infamous rival drops out of Wimbledon
Serena Williams return to Wimbledon, in both singles and doubles, is one of the biggest talking points heading into the iconic Grand Slam.
Williams has already returned in doubles, alongside Victoria Mboko and Karolina Muchova at Queen’s and the Berlin Open, respectively, and she will make her fully-fledged singles return in the main draw.
As well as playing doubles alongside her sister Venus, Williams also accepted the last-remaining wildcard for the Wimbledon singles draw.
It will mark Williams’ first appearance at the Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2022, when she was stunned in the first round of the event by the unseeded Harmony Tan.
Women’s Wimbledon singles wildcards
- Maja Chwalińska
- Harriet Dart
- Alicia Dudeney
- Hannah Klugman
- Mika Stojsavljevic
- Katie Swan
- Serena Williams
- Mimi Xu
Even though it came at the end of Williams’ first stint as an active player, and she was far away from the true peak of her powers, it was still one of the biggest shocks in modern tennis.
Tan took a deciding tie-break to knock Williams out of the tournament she has won seven singles titles at, and it’s fair to say the Frenchwomen’s career has not taken off in the way many expected.
In fact, Tan has just been dumped out of the qualifying stages of Wimbledon this year, meaning she will not be in the main draw of the event for 2026.
That means Williams’ chance of earning revenge upon her Wimbledon return has been nixed, meaning Tan still has a winning record over the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
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Tan defeated Mia Pohánková and Esther Adeshina to reach the final round of qualifying, but she fell at the last hurdle to Italian Tyra Caterina Grant.
Grant beat Tan in straight sets to confirm her place in the Wimbledon main draw for the first time, just two months after earning her first WTA-level victory at the Madrid Open.
Williams will find out her fate at Wimbledon when the draw is made on Friday, June 26th. As a wildcard, Williams can play anyone in the draw.
That means she can be drawn against any one of the top 32 seeds at the Grand Slam, including World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Alternatively, Williams can also draw an unseeded player, a qualifier, or another wildcard, so there are several avenues for the star’s first match at Wimbledon for four years.
Whatever happens in the first round, Williams’ return to singles action is sure to be one of the biggest talking points of the entire Grand Slam.
