Serena Williams received the final wild card into the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion will play her first singles match since the 2022 US Open next week at SW19.
Williams returned to tennis earlier this month, but only played doubles at the Queen’s Club Championships and the Berlin Open.
Pick your dream first-round opponent for Serena Williams at Wimbledon!
As she prepares for Wimbledon, her former rival, Kim Clijsters, has shared what she will be looking out for in her first-round match.
Kim Clijsters will be looking to see what Serena Williams’ movement is like at Wimbledon
During the latest episode of ‘Love All‘, Clijsters discussed Williams’ decision to return to singles at Wimbledon.
“The way that Wimbledon approached it, holding off that wild card, seeing a couple of drills online from Serena [Williams], I was like, there are some singles drills that she is doing. But yeah, it’s really exciting!” said Clijsters.
“It draws people, I watched her doubles, just to see what it was like. It does trigger people’s attention, and I think it will bring so many people to watch the Wimbledon first round.
“Me as a tennis player, I’m going to look at it a bit more critically, I think, but yeah, excited to see what the serve is going to be like, how the timing is going to be, the movement, all of those things are what I’m going to be looking at.
“The fact that she takes on Wimbledon as her first singles event is super impressive and kind of just shows her mindset and her confidence levels, and everything.
“I’m surprised that she’s doing singles and doubles, that she’s starting with two competitions in one tournament, for the body, is also a little bit more draining.
“But I can’t wait, I literally can’t wait to see her.”
Williams will be playing singles and doubles with her sister, Venus Williams, at Wimbledon this year.
Her coach, Rennae Stubbs, also suggested Williams may play mixed doubles, although that was before she accepted the singles wild card.
Any match involving Williams will attract large crowds, although the biggest story will undoubtedly be her return to singles competition.
Clijsters suggested what the WTA locker room will be thinking ahead of Friday’s draw.
“There are going to be players that are like, ‘Oh my god, this is my dream, I can play Serena.’ And there are going to be players who are like, ‘Please no, I don’t want to play Serena.’ You are going to have both,” she said.
“I’m just very curious, this is such a fun story, and will draw so much attention to this moment and the draw.”
The Belgian continued, sharing what she’s noticed about how Williams has handled the media.
“I do see when she speaks to the media, there’s a, let’s keep the pressure down, let’s not draw too much attention to the results,” said Clijsters.
“I think I took a similar approach, like, I’m here because I want to try it, but deep down, you’re still competitive, and you want to win every match you play in and every point, and I think Serena has that competitiveness super strong in there.
“The fact that she’s doing this shows that the competitiveness is still there.”
Finally, Clijsters responded when asked if she believes Williams will have any fears ahead of her singles return.
“I think there is always fear,” she said.
“But I think, at the end of the day, it’s still going to be early.
“I don’t think we can expect her to play tennis like with her eyes closed and everything is going to fall into place.
“I don’t think we can expect the Serena that we once saw.
“But I do think that with the type of tennis that she’s capable of playing, and that she can play on grass, rallies are shorter, she has a great serve, she has a great return, so the first two shots of the rally, she is so good at…
“These are little things for me, to see how her reactions are, how her eyesight is, you can train, and you can get fit, but it’s those kinds of things that will start to slow down, how quickly we will be able to notice a difference compared to a few years ago.”
Serena Williams could finally get her Wimbledon revenge in 2026
Williams last played a singles match at Wimbledon four years ago, when she lost in the first round to Harmony Tan.
In a remarkable turn of events, Tan has won her first two qualifying matches in Roehampton and is now just one victory away from the main draw.
If she wins that match, she will join Williams in the 128-woman field at Wimbledon.
Four years on from their Centre Court clash, there is a genuine chance that Williams and Tan take centre stage once again.
Tan will play Tyra Grant in the final round of qualifying on Thursday, June 25, before the draw takes place on Friday.