"It's a date": Serena Williams will return to singles competition at Wimbledon
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made the reveal on Instagram, which the All England Club later confirmed.
THE BREAK: Nike unveils the Serena Williams Building
Serena Williams' last singles match came at Wimbledon. So will her next one.
On Tuesday morning, the 23-time Grand Slam champion dropped a picture of clean white tennis shoes with verdant grass underfoot—along with this unexpected caption:
SW and SW19. It’s a date. 2022 See you there.
There was little indication that the 40-year-old would return in time for Wimbledon, or even at all this season. But 12 months after the American took a tearful tumble on Centre Court in her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich—suffering a significant ankle injury in the process—she's all but certain to return to tennis' grandest stage.
She'll also compete the week before Wimbledon, in Eastbourne, but only in the doubles draw, alongside Ons Jabeur.
Williams has won Wimbledon seven times, the last title coming in 2016. Her last Grand Slam title victory was at the 2017 Australian Open. Given her lack of recent play, she's currently ranked No. 1,208, but she receives a wild card into the main draw of SW19.
Here's guessing the All England Club didn't have to mull Williams' request for one very long.
