Tennis-Serena Williams handed Wimbledon singles wildcard

Serena Williams will make a stunning return to singles at Wimbledon after being handed a wildcard by the All England Club, providing a massive storyline for the Grand Slam tournament.

American great Serena Williams will ​make a stunning return to singles at ​this year's Wimbledon after being ‌handed the ​final wildcard by the All England Club on Sunday. The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion was already assured of a return to the championships ‌for the first time in four years after accepting a doubles wildcard with sister Venus.

"This is not a drill," the tournament wrote in a post on its Instagram account. The announcement that the 44-year-old ‌mother of two will play singles will provide a massive storyline for the Grand Slam tournament ‌that starts on June 29.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to court after a four-year absence at this month's Queen's Club championships, playing doubles with Canada's Victoria Mboko. She also played doubles in Berlin this week.

Williams, widely-regarded as the ⁠greatest ​female tennis player of ⁠all time, last played a singles match at Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2022 -- losing to Harmony Tan in round ⁠one. After that year's U.S. Open she said she would 'evolve away from tennis' although never officially retired.

Wildcards are handed ​out by tournament organisers to players whose rankings do not permit automatic entry and are ⁠usually reserved for home players, those with illustrious career records or high-profile players returning from injury. Williams first appeared at Wimbledon ⁠in ​1998, reaching the singles third round.

She won the title for the first time in 2002, beating older sister Venus in the final, and went on to become the dominant force ⁠in the women's game, spending a combined total of 319 weeks as the WTA world number one. Williams ⁠added singles crowns in ⁠2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016 and also won six doubles titles at the grasscourt major with Venus.