The All England Club will see something at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships that it hasn’t seen in a decade. That is the teaming up of Venus and Serena Williams in doubles competition that starts in roughly two weeks.
Wimbledon made the announcement on Tuesday when it revealed those who had been granted Wild Cards to this year’s tournament. Serena and Venus are one of seven ladies doubles pairings, and they are the only non-British participants among the 14 individual players.
Many saw the writing on the wall for Serena Williams to eventually compete at Wimbledon when the legend announced she was making her return to tennis after being retired for nearly four years. Serena first reentered the drug testing pool in 2025, a required step for a comeback, before announcing on June 1, that she is returning to doubles competition.
She officially made her return at the Queen’s Club Championships earlier this month alongside 19-year-old teammate, Victoria Mboko. The pair won their first match 7–6, 6–2, but a knee injury forced Mboko to withdraw, ending the pair’s tournament early.
Just hours after Wimbledon revealed that Serena and Venus would team up again, Serena participated in her second match since her comeback. She again played in doubles at the Berlin Open alongside new partner Karolina Muchova. The pair fell in their opening match 6–4, 6–4.
Even with that, Serena got her feet wet with a pair of doubles matches on outdoor grass courts, similar to what she and her big sister will see at Wimbledon.
Venus, who turns 46 on Wednesday, has been active throughout 2026, though her results have been what one would expect from a 45-year-old competing against players half her age. Venus is 0–7 in singles matches this year and hasn’t fared much better in doubles play. She’s won just one of six doubles matches, which came alongside partner Katie Boulter in the first round of the Madrid Open in late April. Across the five tournaments in which she’s competed at doubles this year, Venus has had five different partners.
Wimbledon will make it six, but it’s one she couldn’t be more familiar with. The Williams sisters are, arguably, the greatest doubles team in the history of tennis. They were the first pair of women to complete the Career Golden Slam, which involves winning all four major tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal, and then they did it again to achieve the Double Career Golden Slam in doubles.
Together, they have won 14 Grand Slams in doubles play, in addition to three Olympic gold medals. The Williams sisters’ last Grand Slam victory as a pairing was at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. Meanwhile, the last time the sisters teamed up together at a major event was at the 2022 U.S. Open, which was, at the time, Serena’s final tournament before retiring. The sisters lost in the first round of that event, Serena lost in the third round of singles play, and Venus lost in her opening match in singles.
Venus and Serena have won six Wimbledon championships in doubles as a pairing, leaving them one short of matching the all-time record for an individual. Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova won the Grand Slam seven times in doubles, with her victories coming with three different partners. The Williams’ have also won four runners-up at Wimbledon, giving them 10 total appearances in the championship match.
This year’s championships will have a record prize pool. While the ladies’, gentlemen’s, and mixed doubles events have each received a 10 percent increase in money over last year, doubles play gets a 20 percent increase.
Serena has not ruled out a return to singles play, either at Wimbledon or beyond. There are still eight Wimbledon Wild Cards in women’s singles that are “to be announced.” She is a seven-time Wimbledon champion in singles, which leaves her tied for the third-most ever, trailing only Navratilova (nine) and Helen Wills Moody (eight).
Her last singles championship at the event was 10 years ago, while she last competed in singles play at Wimbledon during her then-retirement season in 2022. Serena lost in the first round back in 2022 and hasn’t won a Wimbledon match since making the final in 2019.
The Wimbledon Championships 2026 will take place from June 29 to July 12 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens are the reigning women’s doubles champions. Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are the defending champions in gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles, respectively.
