Tennis queens in 40s, Serena and Venus Williams reunite for Wimbledon doubles

Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams of the US (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)

Serena and Venus Williams are set to reunite on the doubles court at Wimbledon after receiving a wild card entry from the All England Club. The tournament begins on June 29, and the sisters will be teaming up again for the first time since the 2022 US Open. The legendary pair have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon. Their first and last Wimbledon crowns came in 2000 and 2016, respectively.

Serena, now 44, recently returned to competitive tennis after nearly four years away, while Venus, who turns 46 this week, has continued to play occasionally. Serena recently won her opening doubles match at Queen's Club alongside Victoria Mboko, but the pair had to withdraw later after Mboko suffered a knee injury.

She was also scheduled to partner Karolina Muchova in Berlin.

According to a report from AP, there is still a chance Serena could feature in the singles draw as well. One of the eight women's singles wild card spots has been kept vacant and remains listed as "to be announced". Several British players and French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska have already received invitations. Former Grand Slam champions Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov were handed men's singles wild cards, along with four British players.

Wawrinka plans to retire at the end of the season, while Dimitrov is attempting a comeback after injury problems. In men's doubles, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Bublik received a wild card. Kyrgios reached the Wimbledon singles final in 2022. Meanwhile, 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini missed out on a wild card but could still enter the main draw if there are withdrawals before the tournament begins.