Thanks to a wild card, Venus Williams competes in the tennis tournament in Wimbledon. Most recently she surprised at the tournament in Birmingham, but her opponent is tough.
The organizers of large tennis tournaments can beautify the field of participants a little by issuing so-called wildcards and allow players who could not qualify by world rankings. Not that this is necessary in Wimbledon, where the entire world elite plays for the title in the classic grass field, but it’s also good practice at the All England Tennis Club.
This year, the choice fell on Venus Williams, among others. At the age of 43, the American will once again serve in the individual competition. It is her 24th participation in Wimbledon. In the meantime, Williams has slipped to 697th place in the world tennis rankings, she last served in Wimbledon in 2021 and reached the second round. It has been more than seven years since her last tournament victory in singles.
Williams earned his start in London by winning five tournaments. She won the coveted trophy in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2016. The wildcard is also a gift to tennis fans in London, who are now able to see a player who has played in the famous tournament for many years has dominated.
Win against Giorgi in Birmingham
Only recently did she cause a stir at the WTA lawn tournament in Birmingham by beating the Italian Camila Giorgi. After 3:17 hours it was 7:6, 4:6 and 7:6. Only five women had previously managed to win a singles match on the WTA Tour aged 43 or older – Dodo Cheney, Renee Richards, Judy Dalton, Martina Navratilova and Kimiko Date-Krumm. At the same time, it was the sister of tennis icon Serena Williams (41), who retired last year, the first success in a top 50 game since 2019. She had only recently returned to the tour after a five-month injury break.
Against Svitolina outsider
Williams faces Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the first round on Monday. Incidentally, she is also equipped with a wildcard in Wimbledon. Svitolina, who is married to Frenchman Gaël Monfils, only recently returned to the field after a baby break and made it to the quarterfinals at the French Open in Paris. That’s why she’s hugely favored against Williams.
By the way, Williams is far from the oldest participant of all time. Martina Navratilova won the mixed mixed tournament in 2003 and was 46 years old at the time.