{"id":4266,"date":"2026-06-27T15:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4266"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:04:09","slug":"djokovic-tells-serena-williams-shes-inspirational-ahead-of-her-wimbledon-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4266","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic tells Serena Williams she\u2019s \u2018inspirational\u2019 ahead of her Wimbledon return"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Novak Djokovic calls Serena Williams\u2019 tennis comeback \u201cinspirational\u201d and \u201cepic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more At the Great American State Fair, you can find a dinosaur\u2019s rib cage. Unity is another matter<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I told her,\u201d Djokovic said Saturday at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Williams is the buzz of SW19 \u2014 the famous post code of Wimbledon \u2014 as she prepares to play her first singles match at the event in four years Tuesday when she faces No. 53 Maya Joint in the first round.<\/p>\n

Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open but she accepted a wild-card entry to play women\u2019s doubles with her sister Venus, who is 46. And then she accepted another to play singles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see her in the gym more than I have, I think, seen her when she was at her prime,\u201d Djokovic, a 24-time major champion, said of Williams, a 23-time major winner in singles. \u201cIt tells me that she really wants this to work out the best way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic added: \u201cI always admired her career, her journey, her story. Of course, Venus\u2019, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis \u2014 she described it as \u201cevolving\u201d away \u2014 after losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows. Her second daughter was born in 2023.<\/p>\n

Read more German highways are buckling under extreme heat as Central Europe sizzles<\/a><\/p>\n

Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles title winner, could meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round.<\/p>\n

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is among the many players and fans looking forward to next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard she said she\u2019s doing that for her kids to see her play. They really get excited about that,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what she\u2019s doing. Also it\u2019s Serena Williams, everyone was talking about that. She\u2019s bringing more eyes on tennis. It\u2019s a good thing for tennis. I\u2019m really excited to see her play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Chinese dissident who fled by dinghy to South Korea arrives in Canada, his friend says<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Novak Djokovic calls Serena Williams\u2019 tennis comeback \u201cinspirational\u201d and \u201cepic.\u201d Read more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDjokovic tells Serena Williams she\u2019s \u2018inspirational\u2019 ahead of her Wimbledon return - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Djokovic tells Serena Williams she\u2019s \u2018inspirational\u2019 ahead of her Wimbledon return - 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