Wimbledon organizers have granted a wild card to American tennis player Venus Williams, the five-time winner of the tournament, according to a provisional list released on Wednesday. The eldest of the Williams sisters, who just turned 43, competed in mixed doubles last year, her last appearance in singles being in 2021.
The former world No.1 made his return to competition on grass last week at the WTA 250 tournament in s’Hertogenbosch, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), with a 3-6, 7- defeat. 6 (7/3) 6-2 against the Swiss Céline Naef (202nd). But on Monday, for the first round of the Birmingham tournament, she beat Italian Camila Giorgi 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6, (8/6), her first victory against a player from the top 50 since 2019.
Other wild cards on the women’s side include former world number three Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian, who missed the previous edition because she was pregnant, reached the last four in London in 2019. A mother since October, she recently reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, refusing to shake hands of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after her defeat.
Among the men, the Belgian David Goffin, quarter-finalist last year, will also have the right to play in the main draw despite his 124th place in the world. The organizers also gave 5 invitations to British players and 5 to British female players. They have two sesames left to allocate on the men’s side and one on the women’s side.
