It’s a huge shame that World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, a two-time winner on the grass courts at the All England Club, will be absent from the upcoming Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament in London due to injury, but Sunday’s event just got a whole lot more interesting. This is because the organizers gave seven-time women’s champion Serena Williams a wild card to compete in the singles.
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So, does the 44-year-old have any chance of winning the No. 8 title? Certainly not. Serena has not played a singles event on the WTA Tour since losing in three sets to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open on September 2, 2022. That’s why Williams is a long shot at +3500 on DraftKings. Her first-round opponent will be determined by a Friday draw, with competition starting on June 29th. She will aim to become the third oldest woman to win a singles match at Wimbledon.
Williams has played several doubles matches this year and recently won the HSBC Championship (Queen’s Club) in London with Canadian partner Victoria Mboko. They defeated Nicole Merichal Martinez and Erin Routliff in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, and were eliminated in the second round. Serena also played with Karolina Muchova in Berlin, but lost in the first round to doubles specialist Routliff and Juliana Olmos 6-4, 6-4.
Serena’s 23 Grand Slam titles are one step short of the all-time record for women held by Australia’s Margaret Court, and her seven Wimbledon titles are tied for third with Martina Navratilova leading the way with nine. Williams’ last singles match at Wimbledon was also in 2022, when she upset Harmony Tan in three sets in the first round. When asked earlier this month if she would consider returning to singles at Wimbledon, Serena replied: “Do you think I’m ready for a singles challenge? I’ve got to put in the work.”
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Serena and five-time Wimbledon champion sister Venus, 46, were given wildcard spots to play in the doubles, but Venus will not compete in the singles. Serena became eligible to participate in the event in February after spending six months in the sports world’s anti-doping testing pool. She said she wants her children, now ages 8 and 3, to watch her play again. She last won Wimbledon in 2016, when she and Venus also won the doubles title. Serena has not won a singles match at Wimbledon since losing to Romania’s Simona Halep in the final in 2019.
Overall, Serena has won 107 of her 123 career singles matches on grass courts. This is her best surface, with an 87% win rate, but unless Wimbledon ends badly, experts are confident we’ll see her at this year’s US Open right now.
The Williams sisters have won a combined 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles, including six at Wimbledon. The first was in 2000 and the last in 2016. His first two doubles victories at Wimbledon (2000 and 2002) were wild cards. Serena also won the mixed doubles title with Max Mirny at Wimbledon in 1998 and the gold medal in singles at the 2012 London Olympics, where the tennis competition was held at Wimbledon.
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The favorite to win the women’s singles at Wimbledon is Belarusian world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (+330). She has won the Australian Open (2021) and the US Open (2019) in her career, but has yet to reach the Wimbledon final. The favorite for the top American player is world No. 7 Coco Gauff at +150, and she is +1200 points away from winning (Serena said, “Any other American prop would be +1600 points.”) Gauff at the All England Club. The furthest she has gone is in the fourth round. The American who won the women’s singles is +300 points. It will definitely be interesting to see Gauff play her idol Serena in the first round.
