Serena and Venus Williams Set to Play Doubles Together at Wimbledon

It’s official. Serena and Venus Williams will play Doubles together at Wimbledon this year after the All England Club awarded them a wildcard entry into the women’s draw.

The sisters last played doubles together at the 2022 US Open, where they lost in the opening round. That tournament also marked the point most fans assumed was the end of Serena’s career. She stepped away from competitive tennis afterward and didn’t return for nearly four years. Venus, meanwhile, continued to play occasionally but far less often than during her prime.

All these speculations on Serena’s career changed when earlier this month, she announced she was returning to doubles. She entered Queen’s Club alongside Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, and the pair won their opening match before Mboko was forced to withdraw with a knee injury. Rather than stopping there, Serena moved on to the Berlin Open to keep playing competitive matches, partnering with Karolina Muchova to stay sharp ahead of the grass-court season.

Neither Williams sister currently holds a ranking high enough to qualify for Wimbledon’s doubles draw on merit. Serena’s ranking reflects her years away from the sport, and Venus has played too sparingly in recent seasons to hold a qualifying spot. A wildcard solves that problem and it’s not without precedent. The sisters first broke through at Wimbledon as wildcards themselves, long before they’d won a major title.

Wimbledon has been the site of the sisters’ biggest doubles success. Together they’ve won the title there six times, most recently in 2016, and they hold 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles overall with an unbeaten record in major finals. Their partnership has also produced three Olympic gold medals.

Though nothing has been confirmed, there’s ongoing speculation about whether Serena might also play singles at Wimbledon. One of the tournament’s eight women’s singles wildcard spots was left unannounced when the rest were revealed, which has further fueled rumors.

The Championships begin later this month, and the Williams sisters’ doubles run will be one of the most closely watched storylines of the tournament, regardless of how far they advance.