PARIS — Serena Williams, absent from competitive tennis for nearly a year, said on Tuesday that she intends to return for Wimbledon, which begins on June 27.
Williams, 40, has not played on tour since leaving a match in considerable pain with a right leg injury during the first round of Wimbledon last year against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Sasnovich, a Belarusian, is one of the players banned by Wimbledon this year because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been supported by Belarus. But Williams plans to return, and Wimbledon was expected to confirm later Tuesday that she was receiving a wild card into the women’s singles draw.
If she does indeed take part, it will be her 21st appearance at Wimbledon, where she has won seven singles titles and seven doubles titles, six of the doubles titles with her older sister Venus Williams.
It is unclear whether Venus Williams, 41, is also planning on returning to the tour. She has not competed since last August in Chicago.
Because of the inactivity, both sisters’ rankings have dropped far from their usual zones. Venus Williams is No. 571. Serena Williams is No. 1,208, which explains why she required a wild card to gain entry to Wimbledon.
In her brief Instagram post on Tuesday announcing her plan to play Wimbledon, Serena Williams also tagged the Eastbourne International tournament. That suggests that she intends to return to competition for the WTA grass-court event in Eastbourne, England, which begins on Saturday. That would give her at least some match play before Wimbledon.
