LONDON — There is unwavering faith in Serena Williams across the women’s circuit. The verdict is unanimous: the player with the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era will make a successful return.
“Serena can do anything. And if it’s somebody that we’d have to choose to go far, I would honestly choose Serena,” CLAY was told by Bianca Andreescu, a player who knows her well. The Canadian denied Williams her 24th Grand Slam title by defeating her in the 2019 US Open final.
“Being out for four years is very difficult, but it’s really nice to have her back, and it’s nice for this new generation also to get a chance to play her. We have a little history, so it’ll be nice to maybe see her on the other side again,” added the former world number four.
Williams accepted a wild card from the All England Club to compete at Wimbledon 2026. She will play singles and doubles — alongside her sister Venus.
Since her retirement at the 2022 US Open, nearly four years have passed since the 44-year-old North American last competed in singles. A period of inactivity that might seem too long to predict a winning return for any competitor, let alone at her age. Some see it as an advantage.
“She’s mentally fresh, looks like she’s in better shape, and she seemed so free in her head. I think she’s gonna do pretty good. The shots are there, the memories, how to play tennis — it’s all there. I think she’s gonna come back quite strong,” Varvara Lepchenko told CLAY.
Lepchenko, a 40-year-old North American of Uzbek origin and former world number 19, lost to Williams three times over the past decade. She dreams of playing her again: “I think it’s an honor to play with her. I would be excited, because it’s another chance to play someone who is a legend. At this point we’re not 15 and trying to achieve things — it’s more like we’re getting more pleasure for just keep playing. We know ourselves so well, and it’s just about seeing how far you can push yourself.”
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“Grass is probably the best surface to kind of come back on,” believes New Zealander Lulu Sun. “She’s obviously very experienced, and I think it’s great to see that she still has the love for the game — because at the end of most tennis players’ careers, they don’t have that eagerness anymore,” she told CLAY in London.
Robin Montgomery, the WTA 250 champion in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, counts Serena Williams as her greatest idol: “I have no doubt she’ll probably do something amazing this year. I think she can string along some matches. I don’t think she would say yes to a wild card if she didn’t 100% believe that she was ready to compete at this level.”
Montgomery was struck by Williams’s return in the doubles at Queen’s in mid-June. “She looks like she never even left the court. With me, just taking nine months off when I first came back, I was like, oh my God, this feels so different. So it just once again shows how much of a legend she is, being able to look like she’s been training day in day out, even after taking four years off,” the 23-year-old told CLAY, having dreamed of facing her idol in the first round at Wimbledon.
Maya Joint will face that daunting challenge instead. For most, it would be a privilege. The draw has pitted the 20-year-old Australian — the youngest player by birth year Williams has ever faced — against her this Tuesday on Centre Court.
