Serena Williams will play singles at Wimbledon after accepting a wild-card invitation, the All England Club announced Sunday.
The move comes after the 44-year-old Williams recently returned to competition in doubles after nearly four years away from professional tennis.
This is not a drill.@serenawilliams will compete in the 2026 ladies' singles at #Wimbledon as a wild card. pic.twitter.com/1vHnDEQ4xm
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 21, 2026
And it means that Williams will play both singles and doubles at Wimbledon after already accepting a wild card for the doubles competition with older sister Venus Williams.
Wimbledon held open the eighth and final women's singles wild-card spot until Williams made up her mind. As recently as earlier this week after losing a doubles match in Berlin, she appeared to be waffling over the decision.
"Oh my gosh, there are some left?" she replied when she was told there was still a wild-card spot open.
Wild cards are special invitations handed out by tournament organizers, which allow former champions and others access to the main draw without the necessary entry qualifications. But then Williams mused about her readiness for it.
"Do you think I'm ready for singles?" she asked a reporter and then turned to doubles partner Karolina Muchova to ask what she thought.
"I think I would be interested in it," the Czech player responded.
"That's the question of the hour, right?" Williams said. "I don't know. I don't know. I wonder why there's -- I don't know."
"Just finished a mean game of duck duck goose," Williams said on X after the wild card announcement.
Serena's last singles match was a loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open. At the time, she said she didn't want to use the word "retiring" and instead declared that she was "evolving" away from tennis.
Serena has won 23 Grand Slam titles in singles, including seven at Wimbledon, most recently in 2016. She also has won 14 Grand Slams in doubles, all with Venus and six of them at Wimbledon. Serena also swept the singles and doubles (with Venus) titles at the 2012 London Olympics, when the tennis competition was held on the hallowed grass of the All England Club.
Wimbledon starts June 29.
Serena won a doubles match with partner Victoria Mboko at Queen's Club last week but then the pair had to withdraw after Mboko injured her knee in a singles match.
In another doubles match at the Berlin Open on Tuesday, Serena and Muchova were beaten by Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe.
As of Sunday, Serena had not entered the singles draws of any grass-court tuneup tournaments before Wimbledon.
She will learn who her first-round opponent is on Friday when the singles draws for Wimbledon are held.
While she's No. 593 in the doubles rankings courtesy of her victory last week, Serena has no singles ranking after being away for so long.
Iga Swiatek is the defending Wimbledon champion, while Aryna Sabalenka is ranked No. 1.
Because Serena has no ranking, she could potentially face Swiatek, Sabalenka or any other top-ranked player in the opening rounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.