Serena Williams and Venus Williams are officially teaming up again at Wimbledon, turning what could have been a quiet tennis comeback into one of the most nostalgic storylines of the summer. Wimbledon organizers announced Tuesday that the legendary sisters received a women’s doubles wildcard for the 2026 Championships, putting them back together on the grass courts where they built one of the most dominant family legacies in sports.
For Serena, 44, the decision came with a family push. Speaking after her Berlin Open doubles match with Karolina Muchova, Serena revealed that her 8-year-old daughter, Olympia, helped plant the idea.
“My daughter, Olympia, told me I should play with Venus,” Serena said, per the Women’s Tennis Association. “She’s always right, so I was like, okay.”
She added, “She’s very serious. She knows. She’s very smart. She’s very wise, I think, is a better word. So I said, ‘Okay, Olympia, let’s see if we can do it.’”
The reunion is bigger than a sentimental doubles entry. Serena and Venus have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon. Their first two Wimbledon doubles titles, in 2000 and 2002, also came after wildcard entries, making this return feel like a full-circle moment.
The comeback also arrives after a long gap from the court. Serena stepped away from tennis after the 2022 U.S. Open, famously explaining in Vogue that she did not like the word retirement and was “evolving away from tennis” toward family and Serena Ventures. She also wrote that she wanted to grow her family, later welcoming her second daughter, Adira, in 2023.
Earlier this month, Serena played her first professional match in nearly four years at Queen’s Club, teaming with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko to defeat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6, 6-2. Their run ended early when Mboko suffered a knee injury, but the match proved Serena could still command a crowd and compete on grass.
Her Berlin tune-up was less successful. Serena and Muchova fell to Giuliana Olmos and Routliffe 6-4, 6-4, but Serena said she felt “more nimble and more sturdy and quicker” than she did at Queen’s.
Venus, who turned 46 on June 17, has competed more sporadically in recent years, making the Wimbledon pairing even more meaningful. The sisters last played doubles together at the 2022 U.S. Open, where they lost in the first round to Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova. That was their first doubles match together in four and a half years.
Neither sister has requested a singles wildcard so far, though one women’s singles wildcard remains open and Serena has not fully shut down the idea.
For now, the story is simple: Olympia made the suggestion, Wimbledon made the call, and the Williams sisters are back together where their dynasty once ruled.
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