Venus Williams, a 43-year-old American tennis player, has been given a wild-card entry to the Wimbledon singles draw. This will be her 24th participation in the famous tournament.
With 5 Wimbledon singles titles and a runner-up finish in 2017, Williams has a fantastic record at the grass-court major since her debut two decades ago.
Williams, who is now ranked 697th in the world, demonstrated her enduring skill by beating Camila Giorgi, who is ranked 48th, in a dramatic game at the Birmingham Classic. Her hard-fought victory, with a score of 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6), was her first triumph against a player ranked in the top 50 in nearly 4 years.
At the Wimbledon warm-up event, the 7 time Grand Slam champion will play Jelena Ostapenko next.
Serena Williams, the younger sister of Williams, has won Wimbledon 7 times. At the tournament last year, Serena Williams was defeated in the opening round and shortly after announced her decision to step away from tennis.
Also given wild cards for the women’s draw were British athletes Heather Watson and Katie Boulter as well as Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina.
David Goffin, a Belgian who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2019 and 2022, was among the men given wild cards.
Wimbledon starts on July 3.