The legendary Williams sisters are set to return to Wimbledon as a doubles pairing after Serena came back to singles this week at the age of 44
Serena Williams and Venus Williams are slated to rekindle their doubles partnership at Wimbledon, although details of their first-round match are still “to be arranged”.
With a combined age of 90, the tennis legends are set to play their first match together in four years against Solana Sierra and Camilla Osorio. Serena returned to singles on Tuesday, but injured her knee in a defeat to Maya Joint.
As a result, Serena and Venus were not scheduled to play on Thursday or Friday, the first two days of women’s doubles play, but are now scheduled to play at some point after 4:30pm BST. Together, Serena and Venus have won 14 grand slam titles in doubles, including six at Wimbledon.
The return of two of the sport’s champions highlights Saturday’s play at Wimbledon. But elsewhere, Arthur Fery, the last British player left standing in the singles, takes on Zizou Bergs looking to extend his run to the fourth round.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek plays rising star Alexandra Eala, while there’s an all-American clash between last year’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova and former grand slam champion Madison Keys.
Follow latest scores and updates from Wimbledon, below
What has Serena Williams said about her knee injury?
“It felt so good to be back on the grass at Wimbledon,” Serena Williams posted on Instagram on Wednesday. “I’m incredibly thankful for the wildcard - and even more grateful my daughters got to see that it’s never too late to chase something you love.
“I tweaked my knee late in the first set, but I’ll be doing everything I can to be ready for doubles with Venus. Congratulations to Maya Joint on a great match, and thank you to everyone who showed up and showed me so much love. That feeling will never get old.”
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Naomi Osaka wants to talk fashion rather than tennis — now there’s no choice
Serena Williams avoids embarrassment – but valiant Wimbledon return asks one more question
With only two doubles matches under her belt, Serena Williams stepped onto Center Court for her first singles match in four years, facing the 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint.
After a difficult first set for Williams, she showed brilliant fight in the second set to save match point and force a decider, but ran out of steam as the world No 87 won 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Williams was excused from her post-match media obligations after it was revealed she “tweaked her knee”.
Williams was able to leave the grounds “unaided”, and is doing “everything she can to be ready” for her doubles match with Venus, her agent Jill Smoller said.
Serena Williams avoids embarrassment – but Wimbledon return asks one more question
Yesterday at Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic equals Federer record and receives unexpected boost
Novak Djokovic won his 105th Wimbledon match to equal Roger Federer’s men’s singles record and continue his bid for a 25th grand slam singles title.
The 39-year-old had to overcome an excellent performance from the big-serving 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech, winning 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6 to reach the fourth round after being granted his wish to play during the day on Centre Court.
The seven-time champion then received a boost by learning that potential fourth-round foe Joao Fonseca, who defeated Djokovic at last month’s French Open, had been knocked out by qualifier Roman Safiullin.
Wimbledon prepare to give Serena Williams 'as much time' as she needs
Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker confirmed the All England Club were prepared to give Serena Williams “as much time” as she needed to return.
The first round of the women’s doubles were scheduled to be completed by today, but Baker described the schedule as a “guideline”.
"We are giving her as much time. Obviously we want her to play, if she possibly can. In terms of the days, it is a guideline.
"That is what we're hoping to do to try and get the tournament finished. There are sometimes exceptional circumstance, whether that's weather, injuries or actually sometimes conflicts of players playing in two of three events.
"It doesn't happen that often but occasionally you do get the odd match that carries over and we wouldn't do that if we felt that it was putting the competition in any kind of danger."
Why Arthur Fery, the last Brit standing at Wimbledon, is ready for his moment
The 23-year-old wildcard Fery, who carries earplugs in his tennis bag and didn’t notice the arrival of the Princess of Wales to his win over Otto Virtanen, will play Zizou Bergs on Saturday as the only British player left in the men’s or women’s singles
How Arthur Fery, the last Brit at Wimbledon, will prepare to block out the noise
Serena Williams returned to doubles last month at Queen's
Serena Williams made her long-awaited return to tennis for the first time since 2022 when she played doubles with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s in London.
The pair won their first-round match against third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe, but injury for Mboko prevented a second.
The Canadian teenager slipped on the grass during her singles match the following day, suffering a left knee injury that forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon.
Alexandra Eala makes history at Wimbledon to carry the hopes of the Philippines
The 21-year-old Eala is the first player from the Philippines to reach the third round of a grand slam and will play reigning champion Iga Swiatek this afternoon
Alexandra Eala makes history at Wimbledon to carry the hopes of the Philippines
Who are the Williams sisters set to play?
The Williams sisters are drawn to play the unseeded South American pair Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round. Osorio, from Colombia, and Sierra, from Argentina, will be playing as a duo for the first time.
Sierra reached the last-16 of singles last season, and gave Coco Gauff a scare in round two on Wednesday.
When was the last time Serena Williams and Venus Williams played doubles?
The Williams sisters last played doubles together at the 2022 US Open. Venus Williams, who is 46, plays sporadically but still sometimes accepts wildcards into grand slams.
Together, Serena and Venus have won six Wimbledon doubles titles, a record they share with Suzanne Lenglen and Elizabeth Ryan, and their last title came in 2016.
With a combined age of 90, the Williams sisters are scheduled to play from at least 4:30pm BST (UK time) on Saturday 4 July. But their match is still described as “to be arranged”, and a court has not been assigned.
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