Venus Williams and Serena Williams accepted a doubles wild card for Wimbledon 2024, the All England Club announced on Tuesday. The pair, aged 46 and 44 respectively, will combine for a combined age of 90 when play starts on July 1.
What happened?
Wimbledon organizers handed the sisters a doubles wild card ahead of the 2024 Championships, which begin on July 1. Venus turns 46 on Wednesday, while Serena returned to competition in June after a near four-year hiatus. Their last doubles outing together came at the 2022 U.S. Open, where they lost in the first round.
Serena and Venus have won six Wimbledon doubles titles together, first in 2000 and most recently in 2016. Their 14 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair remain the most by any women’s duo in the Open era. The sisters share the Wimbledon women’s doubles record with Suzanne Lenglen and Elizabeth Ryan, who won five straight titles from 1919 to 1923 plus a sixth in 1925.
Why it matters for Venus Williams
For Venus Williams, the wild card caps a year of sporadic singles and doubles appearances. She has continued to compete selectively on tour while balancing family life, including coaching daughter Olympia. Serena’s return has already produced a doubles win at Queen’s Club last week, though she and partner Victoria Mboko withdrew after Mboko’s knee injury.
The invitation gives the sisters a chance to add to their 21 combined titles at Wimbledon across singles and doubles. Venus owns five Wimbledon singles crowns; Serena has seven. Their powerful serves have long thrived on grass, where they’ve combined for 21 trophies and medals between them.
What comes next?
The sisters have not ruled out singles entries, too. One of the eight women’s singles wild cards remains “to be announced.” Recent French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska secured a singles wild card, along with six British women: Harriet Dart, Alicia Dudeney, Hannah Klugman, Mika Stojsavljevic, Katie Swan, and Mimi Xu.
On the men’s side, three-time Slam winner Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov accepted singles wild cards. Wawrinka plans to retire at the end of 2024; Dimitrov, ranked No. 169, lost a Wimbledon round-of-16 match last year after leading two sets to none.
Venus and Serena will next train together in the days before Wimbledon begins. Their presence alone guarantees headlines, but a sixth Wimbledon doubles title would cement their legacy on the grass where they’ve already rewritten history.