{"id":4499,"date":"2026-06-29T22:34:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4499"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:34:38","slug":"serena-williams-return-at-wimbledon-is-the-ticket-to-have-for-the-grass-court-grand-slam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4499","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams\u2019 return at Wimbledon is \u2018the ticket to have\u2019 for the grass-court Grand Slam"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Anticipation is building at Wimbledon for Serena Williams\u2019 first singles match in nearly four years.<\/p>\n

Read more US riding wave of confidence to World Cup knockout rounds after strong start to home tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Williams is scheduled to play an opponent less than half her age, 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia, in the third match Tuesday on Centre Court \u2014 the patch of grass where the American standout won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone\u2019s feeling the same way: Cannot wait to be watching Serena back on Centre Court again,\u201d Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said Monday.<\/p>\n

Wimbledon organizers took the unusual step of holding up an eighth and final wild card spot for Williams until she accepted the invitation at almost the last possible moment the weekend before qualifying began.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all sitting there sort of quietly keeping our fingers crossed that that\u2019s what would happen,\u201d Bolton said when asked by The Associated Press how anxious the club was while Williams pondered her decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is such an icon of the sport and particularly here at the championship she\u2019s one of our most special champions,\u201d Bolton added. \u201cSo it really will be the ticket to have tomorrow when she walks back on Centre Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it was related to Williams or not, the queue (line) of would-be-spectators camping out overnight for the daily batches of Wimbledon tickets on offer had reached 10,000 people by Monday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are advising people if they haven\u2019t already set off to travel, not to travel because the queue is effectively full,\u201d Bolton said. \u201cBy comparison to last year, it is really busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Portland is acquiring 2-time All-Star Ja Morant in a trade with Memphis, AP source says<\/a><\/p>\n

Williams will also play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.<\/p>\n

Since Serena last won Wimbledon a decade ago, eight different women have won the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was needed a wee bit to kind of reinvent the women\u2019s game,\u201d said Lauren Byrne, a 26-year-old spectator at Wimbledon from near Dublin. \u201cShe\u2019s definitely going to bring a bit more excitement back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Byrne\u2019s father, Anthony: \u201cIt\u2019s just great to see her. She still has the appetite, hasn\u2019t she, to play at this level? \u2026 Age isn\u2019t a barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gibran Chenia, a London resident who described himself as \u201c50-plus,\u201d called Williams \u201ca legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if she\u2019s half as good as she was, she is going to be great for tennis,\u201d Chenia said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to have legends back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more North Carolina budget agreement being finalized, state representative says<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Anticipation is building at Wimbledon for Serena Williams\u2019 first singles match in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSerena Williams\u2019 return at Wimbledon is \u2018the ticket to have\u2019 for the grass-court Grand Slam - 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=4499\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Serena Williams\u2019 return at Wimbledon is \u2018the ticket to have\u2019 for the grass-court Grand Slam - 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