Serena Williams, wild card for Eastbourne and Wimbledon

The Queen is ready to return. “Queen” Serena takes the field again, and does it in her grass. She first tasted it in Eastbourne, then Wimbledon, where she triumphed seven times. The American tennis player, former world number 1, born in 1981, received a wild card (very discounted) from the organizers of the prestigious Grand Slam where she will therefore play for the 21st time. The youngest of Williams, who has won 73 WTA singles titles, 23 of which are Grand Slam events (absolute record in the Open Era, men included, second all time only behind Australian Margareth Court with 24), misses right from last Wimbledon, when she was forced to retire in tears, in the first round against Sasnovic, due to a thigh injury. At the end of the tournament she slipped to position 16 in the world rankings. Later, again due to injury, she also missed the US Open. Since then, the American (currently n ° 1208) has always been very detached from the Circus Wta, gradually disappearing from the rankings, from the panorama, and showing itself almost exclusively in social and cultural events. At the beginning of April a short video that appeared on her Instagram showed her alluding to a possible return to Wimbledon, but since then total silence. Until, today, a photo of her on Instagram of her showed her on a grass pitch. Shortly after, the official confirmations of the tournaments.

Couple

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As mentioned, Serena received a double wild-card: the first is for next week in Eastbourne where she will be on the field in doubles, with Ons Jabeur, to take the first steps towards Church Road, where instead the wild-card has been assigned to her. for the singular. Surprising, but in fact not too much, this strange couple with the Tunisian, who has been one of the absolute revelations of the season so far, with a prestigious victory in Madrid and a final in Rome. Advertising stunt or desire to have a player who is already strong and ready by her side for this break-in? We do not know, but it is certainly a couple to really keep an eye on. What can you expect from Serena for this return? Clearly the story “If only Williams played seriously and were in good shape…”, which accompanied the WTA for more than a decade, is no longer valid. Venus’ disease, Serena’s little desire and advancing age (over 40), have meant that there are now stronger, more ready and younger players. That said, ruling out a sensational surprise or otherwise a good performance would be unwise, knowing the class of the former world number 1. In addition to Serena Williams, the first wild cards in the women’s Wimbledon draw were awarded to Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage, Sonay Kartal, Yuriko Miyazaki and Katie Swan.