This is the real deal now.
After initially returning in doubles, is ramping up with singles, too.
At , of all places.
All eyes will be on the 44-year-old Williams when she competes in the first round of the grass-court Grand Slam, which starts Monday.
While she has played two recently, Williams hasn鈥檛 contested an official singles match in nearly four years.
ESPN commentator Mary Joe Fernandez called it 鈥渁 sign of confidence鈥� that Serena is prepared to enter the sport鈥檚 most prestigious tournament without having played a singles match in so long.
鈥淏ut if anybody can do it,鈥� Fernandez said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 Serena.鈥�
Added fellow ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe, 鈥淚 would call this Serena being Serena. It鈥檚 very Serena-like to do something audacious like this and I didn鈥檛 think for one minute she was coming back to play doubles (only).鈥�
Williams has accepted wild card invitations for both singles and doubles (with sister Venus) from the All England Club.
Williams made her return this month by playing two doubles matches with two different partners. She at Queen鈥檚 Club and lost with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Open.
Williams鈥� powerful serve and returns were on display but it remains to be seen how well she can cover the entire court and how much stamina she has for singles.
With 23 Grand Slam singles titles 鈥� seven of them at Wimbledon 鈥� and 14 more in doubles (all with Venus as her partner), nobody is questioning her qualifications, experience or aura.
鈥淗opefully she鈥檒l be able to be competitive right off the bat,鈥� McEnroe added.
Serena also swept the singles and doubles (with Venus) titles at the 2012 London Olympics, when the tennis competition was held on the hallowed grass of the All England Club. And she was the runner-up four times in singles at Wimbledon.
Serena will learn who her first-round opponent is on Friday when the singles draws for Wimbledon are held. Then her opening match will be either next Monday or Tuesday.
鈥淣o one鈥檚 going to want to face her,鈥� said Fernandez, who coached Williams as Fed Cup captain and on the U.S. Olympic team.
The Williams sisters鈥� opening doubles match will come later in the opening week.
Sabalenka and Swiatek
Despite her resume, Serena is by no means the favorite for the trophy.
Among the top contenders are top-ranked , and freshly crowned French Open champion , who at 19 is 25 years younger than Serena.
Sabalenka is looking to bounce back from a crushing defeat at Roland Garros, where she let a big lead slip away and didn鈥檛 win a game in the third set of a loss to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals.
Rybakina is known as one of the game鈥檚 best servers and her game adapts well to grass.
Andreeva reached the quarterfinals in London last year and will have more confidence after her performance in Paris.
is the defending champion and moves well on grass.
Since Serena has no ranking and won鈥檛 be seeded, she could potentially face any of the top players in the opening round.
Sinner and Djokovic
With with a right wrist injury that also kept him out of the French Open, Jannik Sinner is favored to defend his title 鈥� even after the top-ranked Sinner’s in a Paris heat wave.
鈥淚t鈥檚 Sinner and then it鈥檚 everyone else,鈥� McEnroe said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the bottom line on the men鈥檚 side.鈥�
has never been past the fourth round at the All England Club and a year ago.
Sinner鈥檚 biggest challenger could be , who like Serena is a seven-time Wimbledon champion. A 24-time Grand Slam champion overall, Djokovic has reached the semifinals or better in his last seven appearances at the All England Club.
鈥淗e鈥檚 so comfortable on the grass,鈥� Fernandez said. 鈥淭his is for me is where he has his best chance to win another major.鈥�
So with a combined age of 83, Serena and Djokovic could be ready for a repeat of 2015, when they won Wimbledon in the same year.
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