The All England Club has granted a wild card to the Americans who should not play in the singles
Thirteen days before the start of Wimbledon, the long-awaited moment of the announcement of the wildcards has arrived. For once, however, the invitations to the doubles draw steal the show. While waiting for Matteo Berrettini’s situation (no wildcard, but in the event of just one more default of a player in front of him he would enter directly without having to play the qualifiers) the lights turn on Serena and Venus Williams. The most successful sisters in tennis, ten years after their sixth and final victory in the women’s doubles tournament, will return to the London lawns as a couple. After Serena’s return it also left good signals.
history
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The first Wimbledon victory of the Williams sisters, who can also boast twelve singles titles (7 Serena, 5 Venus) dates back to 2000. When, very young, they beat Halard-Decugis and Sugiyama in two sets, losing only one set in the entire tournament. It was the first opal in a crown with six jewels as regards the London Slam alone: the couple boasts 14 Major titles, with 10 finals won in two sets, very clearly. And with the aim, this year, of making progress, given that both should only play doubles. In fact, there is one wildcard still to be assigned for the women’s singles. Therefore, at most, only one of the two will play singles. Even if the impression, at the moment, is that both prefer to focus only on doubles.
prospect
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“I would like to play singles, we’ll see if I can do it or not, but at the moment that’s not my path,” Serena declared at Queen’s, the WTA 500 where she returned to the court four years after retiring. Also performing well paired with Victoria Mboko, beating the third seeded couple Routliffe/Melichar-Martinez in two sets, before having to withdraw due to an injury to her young partner. Physically Serena is fine, she will also play at the 500 in Berlin paired with Muchova, and she wants to get to Wimbledon to be a protagonist. In doubles, both she and Venus, due to experience and personality, but also due to the power of their shots, can have their say and beat the strongest. And if they were to win they would become, at 89 years old between them, the “oldest” couple to have ever triumphed in a Slam. Surpassing, not by little, the 74 years and 303 days of Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strycova at Wimbledon 2023.
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