As of today, Serena Williams’ last Wimbledon match came in the summer of 2022. Tournament organizers awarded the American a wild card as she attempted yet another comeback after a year-long absence caused by a right hamstring injury. Serena ultimately fell in a dramatic first-round battle to France’s Harmony Tan, 5–7, 6–1, 6–7(7–10). That year also marked the introduction of Wimbledon’s now-familiar 10-point championship tie-break in the deciding set.
Before her current comeback, Williams’ most recent appearance on a tennis court came at the 2022 US Open. Backed by a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, she defeated Danka Kovinić of Montenegro and Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit before losing in three sets to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović in what became the longest Grand Slam match of her career — three hours and five minutes. At the time, many assumed it was the final singles match of Serena’s career. But Serena has never been particularly interested in following predictable scripts. At 44 years old, she is now the oldest former world No. 1 to return after what was widely viewed as a definitive retirement. In doing so, she surpasses Martina Navratilova, who was 43 when she staged a similar comeback in 2000.
Of course, Serena’s relationship with the grass courts of the All England Club contains far more joyful memories than that 2022 defeat. Her Wimbledon résumé includes seven singles titles, six doubles crowns and one mixed doubles championship. Her first appearance at the tournament came in 1998. Serena reached the third round in singles before retiring during her match against Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual. Yet even that debut ended with silverware, as she captured the mixed doubles title alongside Belarusian great Max Mirnyi, who now serves on the coaching team of First&Red ambassador Aryna Sabalenka.
Her first Wimbledon singles trophy arrived four years later. In the 2002 final, Serena defeated her sister Venus, the two-time defending champion. She did not lose a set throughout the tournament and emerged as the new world No. 1. The famous Williams sisters final returned in both 2003 and 2009, with Serena once again coming out on top. Other victims in her successful Wimbledon title matches included Russia’s Vera Zvonareva (2010), Poland’s Agnieszka Radwańska (2012), Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza (2015) and Germany’s Angelique Kerber (2016).
There were disappointments, too. Serena lost four Wimbledon finals — to Maria Sharapova (2004), Venus Williams (2008), Kerber (2018) and Romania’s Simona Halep (2019). Her overall Wimbledon record stands at an astonishing 98–14 in singles and 45–3 in doubles.
Serena’s career may well be the most accomplished in tennis history. She has won 73 WTA singles titles, the fifth-highest total ever. Her most recent title came in Auckland in 2020. Williams shares the record for the longest consecutive stay at world No. 1 with Steffi Graf — 186 weeks — and remains the oldest woman ever to hold the top ranking, doing so at age 35. She ranks fourth all-time in Open Era match victories with 858 and remains the highest career prize-money earner in WTA history, with more than $94.8 million.
The return of Serena and Venus to Wimbledon doubles is generating almost as much excitement as Serena’s individual comeback. The sisters received a wild card into the doubles draw and will play together at Wimbledon for the first time since the 2022 US Open. They are six-time Wimbledon doubles champions, having lifted the trophy in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2016. The Williams sisters captured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together without losing a single major final — the second-best total of the Open Era behind Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver’s 20. Overall, Serena owns 23 WTA doubles titles and two Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns. She is also a five-time WTA Finals champion and a four-time Olympic gold medalist. Her only Olympic singles gold came at Wimbledon in 2012, where she demolished Maria Sharapova in the final, allowing the Russian just one game. In doubles, Serena and Venus won Olympic gold together in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Serena launched her 2026 comeback campaign in doubles. At Queen’s Club in London, she partnered Victoria Mboko and opened with a victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe. Unfortunately, the partnership ended almost immediately after 19-year-old Mboko suffered an injury in singles competition. The Canadian would later be forced to withdraw from Wimbledon as well. The timing of Serena’s Queen’s appearance carried its own historical significance. The match took place 31 years after her very first professional match, played when she was just 14 years old. Back then, she lost to fellow American Annie Miller in qualifying at a tournament in Quebec. Following Queen’s, Williams appeared in Berlin alongside Karolína Muchová, but the duo lost in the opening round to Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos.
Expecting Serena to immediately dominate Wimbledon again would probably be unrealistic. Age and the lack of recent competitive match play may still prove significant obstacles. But it seems equally unlikely that she would abandon her comeback project after a single Grand Slam. If there is one place where we are most likely to see the real Serena Williams again, it may be on the North American hard courts later this summer. So enjoy Wimbledon. And start looking ahead to the US Open.
The Comeback of Serena, a court at Central Park. What Wimbledon-2026 will surprise us with?
