Wildcard entries are not supposed to be revealed on Wednesday but the excitement around Williams possible return has led to an earlier reveal. The tournament is set to begin on June 27.
The 40-year-old player has not played since she got injured last year. In a post on Instagram, the tennis star wrote, SW and SW19. Its a date. See you there.
Her post included a photo of her and her trainers on grass. She also tagged Eastbourne International in her post. This is a pre-Wimbledon WTA event that will begin next week.
I am excited to return to the Rothesay International Eastbourne in England and to be back on the grass. a surface that has been so good to me throughout my career. Eastbourne has a unique charm that you dont see anywhere else on Tour and Im looking forward to playing in front of the fans again, said Williams in a statement.
The tennis superstar last competed at Wimbledon last year but she was forced to retire in the first round after she slipped on wet grass. Since then, she has fallen to No. 1,208 in the world rankings.
Despite that, she still holds the Open Era record for the most number of Grand Slam wins with 23 and she has won Wimbledon six times as a singles player and six times as a doubles player alongside sister Venus Williams.
Her last Grand Slam win was in 2017. She did it while pregnant with her daughter Olympia. Since then, she has reached four Grand Slam finals.
Williams chances of playing at Wimbledon were pretty unclear for a while, especially with the departure of her trainer Patrick Mouratoglou. She is now joined by Erich Hechtman who works with Venus.