Serena Williams opted to let Nike break the news about her pro tennis comeback at age 44 in two slick commercials. The abrupt end to her doubles foray at the HSBC Queen’s Club Championships was more muted.
Williams’ playing partner Victoria Mboko injured her left knee in a fall during a singles match Wednesday. The turn of events restricted Williams’ return to tennis to one match, a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory with the Canadian teenager over No. 3 seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
Shed no tears for Williams. She pivoted quickly and will partner with Czech tennis star Karolína Muchová in doubles at the grass-court WTA 500 Berlin Open next week.
“Every tournament I add to my schedule right now feels special, and Berlin is no exception,” Williams said in a statement. “I’m excited to compete in front of the German fans and continue building momentum throughout the grass-court season.”
Another commercial by Nike, her collaborator and business partner of more than two decades, probably isn’t necessary. Williams’ announcement that she would play for the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open came via a pair of clips from the athletic footwear and apparel conglomerate.
One was captioned “good news travels fast.” Talk about buzzy. Her phone makes all sorts of sounds while she’s working out on the court, ending with the text: “Guess everybody heard the news,” and her saying, “I gotta change my number.”
The second is even zanier, a bit with LeBron James and Nike executives pitching a film called “The GOAT’s Goodbye” to Williams, who wants none of it because she still wants to play. James says to the suits, “You’re gonna have to find someone else,” and Williams walks onto the court with racket in hand.
Tagline: “The GOAT’s back.”
For now, her comeback is open-ended. Wimbledon begins June 29 and Williams has not indicated whether she will play. She has 14 titles in the prestigious tournament, six in doubles, one mixed doubles and seven in singles.
Asked shortly after her lone doubles victory at the Queen’s Club why she returned to the tour after a hiatus punctuated by the birth in 2023 of her second child, Adira River Ohanian, Williams shrugged.
“I don’t know, I had nothing better to do,” she said with a smile. “I got tired of sitting at home. My kids are out of school for the summer, so why not?”
Serena Williams’ doubles campaign at Queen’s has been curtailed as her playing partner Victoria Mboko has withdrawn with a left knee injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, 44, made her return to tennis on Tuesday after almost four years away from the sport.
The pair had been scheduled to play their quarter-final on Thursday but Mboko, 19, suffered a nasty fall in her singles match on Wednesday, which forced her to retire from the match.
Trailing 6-2 3-4 against Karolina Pliskova, the Canadian teenager cried out in pain as she went down clutching her knee and she limped off the court in tears.
It means her compatriot Leylah Fernandez and Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who they were scheduled to face in the doubles on Thursday, advance to the semi-finals.
“What a fun and memorable week at the HSBC Championships. Thank you to everyone who made it so special,” Williams posted on Instagram.
“Vicky Mboko, you’re an incredible talent and you’ll be back out there in no time.
“Wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Williams returned with a winning performance on Tuesday as she and Mboko won 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to upset third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
Playing 1,375 days after her last competitive match, Williams – one of the greatest players of all time – didn’t look a touch out of place as she rediscovered her powerful serve and groundstrokes.
The extent of Mboko’s injury has not yet been confirmed but there are concerns that the world number nine could miss Wimbledon, which starts on 29 June.
Arsenal keen to sign Athletic Club winger Nico Williams, Juventus open talks with Aston Villa over deal for keeper Emiliano Martinez, while Paris St-Germain target Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.
Paris St-Germain will to try to sign Bayern Munich’s 24-year-old French forward Michael Olise this summer. (L’Equipe – in French), external
Manchester United are monitoring Everton‘s 26-year-old Senegal forward Iliman Ndiaye as they look to bolster their squad for a Champions League return next season (Sky Sports), external
Liverpoolare prepared to let Italy forward Federico Chiesa, 28, leave this summer for around £17m, with the player keen on a move back to Serie A. (Caughtoffside), external
Barcelona are aware of interest from Chelsea and Arsenalin Spain winger Dani Olmo, but will only allow the 28-year-old to leave if their £60m valuation is met. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external
Barcelona intend to sell Spain midfielder Marc Casado to raise money for other signings, with Bayer Leverkusen and Premier League clubs tracking the 22-year-old. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external
Leeds United want to break their transfer record to sign Ivory Coast defender Ousmane Diomande from Sporting, with an offer of up to £35m and another £8m in add-ons. (Mirror), external
Crystal Palace are preparing to rival Everton for Middlesbrough’s English midfielder Hayden Hackney, 23, this summer with a £20m offer. (Mail), external
After almost four years away from the sport, the 44-year-old tennis legend made a triumphant return Tuesday at Queen’s Club in London. She teamed with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand in an opening doubles match at the grass-court HSBC Championships.
Williams recorded service winners of up to 120 mph during her first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open.
“It was so fun,” Williams said afterward in an on-court interview. “I had so much fun playing with Victoria. She really was able to hold up the team and really play big on the big points. I could really rely on her. We’ve never played together, but it just felt so natural playing with her.”
Williams has won 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals in doubles, all with sister Venus Williams as her playing partner.
Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko of Canada wave to the crowd after defeating Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe on Tuesday at the Queen’s Club in London.
(Alberto Pezzali / Associated Press)
“I feel very honored to play with Serena,” Mboko said. “I had a lot of fun, if anything. We really did that out there. I’m so happy to be playing beside you. And we’re going for more.”
In September 2022, Williams had registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency.
Last December, however, Williams reentered the agency’s drug-testing pool, a move that led to speculation about a possible return for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion. She announced her professional tennis return last week as a wild-card doubles entry at the Queen’s Club tournament.
The recent wet weather in London has prevented much practice on grass, so Quayle has been helping to source indoor courts at venues like the Hurlingham Club and the National Tennis Centre.
“The practices we have been having have been pretty special,” Quayle continued.
“She’s not lost it – she’s still operating at a very high level. She is just the ultimate professional.
“For me, she’s the greatest of all time, and you see that in the way she does things on the court.
“It’s incredible to just be a part of and witness – never mind to actually be learning from her and seeing her as a friend and an opponent.”
Despite being a well-established hitting partner on the professional tour – and with a job already lined upat Wimbledon – Quayle says his first few practice sessions with the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made him “a little bit nervous”.
“It’s a funny thing to see someone that you have watched their serve on TV for so many years, and then all of a sudden that serve is coming at you,” he explained.
“You’re fighting between admiring some of the shots and actually playing them. She’s got that kind of aura and it’s hard sometimes not to feel a little bit nervous.
“I’m starting to getting a little bit more used to seeing her over the other side of the net, but every day is special.”
Quayle, who would one day like to move into coaching, is encouraged to speak up if he has observations about the way Williams is training.
He praised the environment around her, saying the team are “easy to get along with”.
“She’s got a lot going on off the court so we don’t spend a lot of time outside of the gym or the practice court, but when we’re together, she’s so nice,” Quayle said.
“She’s so welcoming. We’re always cracking jokes and we’ve got a similar sense of humour.
“Everyone in that team makes it such a nice environment for everyone.”
Quayle has been asked to head on to Berlin next week, where Williams will play the second tournament of her comeback with a partner yet to be announced.
He says he does not yet know whether his boss will be playing at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, 29 June, but he is at least relieved he no longer needs to be quite so vague to friends about his movements.
“I feel like I can breathe and relax a little now the secret is out there,” he added.
Serena Williams has added another stop to her comeback tour: the Berlin Tennis Open.
Just a day after announcing her return to professional tennis, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has been added to the 16-team doubles field at Germany’s WTA 500 event.
“Every tournament I add to my schedule right now feels special, and Berlin is no exception,” Williams said in a statement shared by the event on Tuesday. “I’m excited to compete in front of the German fans and continue building momentum throughout the grass-court season.”
Williams is set to play in the doubles tournament at the HSBC Championships at London’s Queen’s Club, which kicks off June 8. On Thursday, 19-year-old Canadian rising star Victoria Mboko confirmed on Instagram that she’ll be Williams’ partner at the event. The Berlin Tennis Open will begin June 13 and Williams’ partner has yet to be named.
The 44-year old tennis great is returning to the sport after almost four years away from competition. She firmly denied rumors of her return on social media just last year.
Williams appeared to poke fun at her own turnaround with a short ad video posted to X on Thursday captioned “I changed my mind.”
Despite prior rumors, Williams’ sister Venus seemed just as surprised as everyone else that Serena was returning to the competitive circuit.
“I think she hits every now and then,” Venus Williams, who also still competes professionally, said during a recent interview at Roland-Garros. “I never see her on the court that often, so I don’t know when she’s been practicing, honestly.”
Despite not having seen her practice first-hand, Venus Williams is not worried about how Serena will play at the upcoming competitions.
“She’s, I think, a little bit of a natural,” she said with a laugh. “She has a pretty good record. She knows what she’s doing. She’s very tenacious. I’m not worried about how she’s going to play, even though I really haven’t seen her play. It’s so crazy.”
Williams was a key player for Forest last term, playing in 53 games as they maintained their Premier League status and reached the Europa League semi-finals.
He was named Forest’s player of the season and the City Ground club have opened talks with the Wrexham-born player over a contract extension.
“It’s physically and mentally tough, but we’re professional enough to deal with what gets put in front of us,” Williams added.
“If that’s games every other few days or the travelling, we’re prepared for that and I’ve enjoyed it.
“I’ll be going straight on holiday, having a few cocktails and putting my feet up on the beach.
“We’ll get a couple of weeks off and then straight back into it.”
Serena Williams has shaken up the tennis world by announcing her competitive return to the game after a nearly four-year absence.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner and mother of two said on Monday that she will compete in women’s doubles at this month’s Queen’s Club Championships in the United Kingdom, where media reported she will play with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.
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The 44-year-old American great received a wildcard entry for the competition, which is seen as a warm-up for Wimbledon, the year’s third Grand Slam.
“I’m very happy. Me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice because I really look up to her,” Mboko said at the French Open last week.
Williams ended months of speculation over a rumoured return with a cheeky social media video captioned: “Good news travels fast.”
‘It will bring people to watch tennis’
Former world number one Lindsay Davenport said she believes Williams could make an appearance at her home Grand Slam, the US Open, in a couple of months.
“It seems like she’s trying to work her way up maybe to the US Open, and those fans would be so ready to see her back on a singles court there,” Davenport said.
Williams won seven Wimbledon titles and six at the US Open before stepping away from the game in 2022. In doubles, she won six titles at Wimbledon and two at the US Open – all with her older sister Venus Williams.
Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.
“It will bring people to watch tennis,” Osaka said. “I’m going to be tuned in to the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it’s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.”
Osaka was joined by several current players in sharing their excitement at the news of Serena Williams’s return.
“She’s a legend. It’s inspiring to see,” top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka said at the ongoing French Open. “I’m excited to see her play and probably face her. … It’s very good news for tennis.”
Coco Gauff, who looked up to Serena Williams growing up, chimed in as well.
“One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,” the world number four said.
Gauff also commented on Williams’s Instagram post, saying, “Dreams come true.”
Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the women’s final of the US Open in 2018 [File: Adam Hunger/AP]
Singles return on the cards?
Fellow American and former champion John McEnroe suggested Williams could compete in singles at Wimbledon, which starts on June 28 .
“She’s not getting any younger, but she’s Serena Williams, so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,” McEnroe said in Paris.
The Queen’s Club tournament starts on Monday, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course”.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
Davenport said some current women’s players travelled to Florida to practise with Williams recently.
“I don’t think anyone’s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,” Davenport said. “So I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don’t know if she’s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We’ll have to see how she can handle that physically.”
Williams, who has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles overall in her storied career, became eligible to compete in February after reregistering for a mandatory antidoping programme six months earlier – the first step towards a comeback.
Davenport admitted that her former opponent would face a tough challenge.
“It’s not going to be easy. If anyone could do it, certainly, it could be her.”
Grand Slam social media accounts used more playful language to celebrate her return, using the goat emoji to symbolise her status as the “greatest of all time”.
Williams joins list of champions making comebacks
Williams is not the only top-level athlete with unfinished business as advancements in training and medical care have allowed for longer careers across several sports.
Seven-time track gold medallist Allyson Felix said this year that she would try to make the US squad in what would be her sixth Olympics. She is aiming to secure a spot on the mixed 4x400m relay team at the 2028 Los Angeles Games despite having previously said the Tokyo Games would be her last.
“It’s just about testing the limits, kind of an experiment of what’s still left there,” the 40-year-old Felix, who gave birth to her second child in 2024, told the NBC TV network’s Today show last month.
Her fellow American Lindsey Vonn became the oldest downhill skier to win a World Cup race in December when she mounted a comeback after knee-replacement surgery.
Vonn, whose Milano-Cortina Olympics campaign ended abruptly with a horrific crash, was among the first top-level athletes to offer her encouragement to Williams on social media.
Vonn and Felix both celebrated Williams’s comeback announcement on social media.
In tennis, longtime Williams friend Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark made it to the fourth round at the US Open in 2023 and 2024 during her own comeback campaign while older sister Venus became the oldest WTA singles match winner since 2004 when she returned from a 16-month absence last year.
Serena Williams’s “return is an expression of her passion for competition”, WTA Chairwoman Valerie Camillo said in a statement on Monday. “I cannot wait to see her face a new generation.”
Serena Williams is returning to competitive tennis after all.
Months after insisting on social media, “Omg yall I’m NOT coming back,” the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion announced Monday that she’ll play professionally for the first time in almost four years at the HSBC Championships at the Queen’s Club in London.
Williams, 44, has been given a wild-card entry into the doubles draw of the WTA 500 event, which begins June 8.
“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement released by the tournament. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”
Williams teased the announcement earlier Monday by posting a video on social media that featured her phone‘s notifications going off constantly while she seemingly was practicing on the court.
“Good news travels fast,” Williams wrote on the post.
Tournament director Laura Robson said during TNT Sports UK’s coverage of the French Open on Monday that Williams’ playing partner will be Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, who is ranked No. 9 in WTA singles. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals in doubles with her sister Venus Williams as her partner.
It is not clear whether Williams will participate in any other events. Wimbledon, a Grand Slam event Williams won seven times in singles, begins June 29 in London.
Williams’ last professional match was a loss to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the U.S. Open on Sept. 2, 2002. She registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency the next day.
Last December, however, Williams reentered the agency’s drug-testing pool. According to the ITIA website, retired players “may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question.”
The move led to much speculation about a possible Williams return, leading to her social media post denying any such intentions.
Martina Navratilova, the 18-time Grand Slam champion who is the oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match — she was 47 when she won a Wimbledon match in 2004 — expressed excitement for Williams’ return.
“Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” Navratilova said in a statement released by the WTA. “To many of the younger players, they never had the opportunity to play her; some may have never watched her on television, so this will be a new and exciting experience.”
The man financing Britain’s clean energy future on doubt, policy risk, and the things no CFO can control.
As CFO of one of Britain’s most ambitious clean energy projects, EnergyPathways’ Max Williams has learned that securing capital is only half the job.
Since joining the firm in April 2025, Williams has been overseeing the finances of MESH, an £800 million offshore hub on the Lancashire coast set to combine long-duration energy storage, gas, and green hydrogen production in a single integrated facility.
With MESH still in the pre-FEED stage, the challenge lies not just in raising capital but in keeping government, institutional investors, and industry partners moving in lockstep toward a Final Investment Decision — and ultimately, execution.
A seasoned Chartered Accountant with three decades in energy and natural resources, Williams spoke with Global Finance about financing a first-of-its-kind project, the politics of clean energy, and what keeps him awake at night.
Max Williams, CFO, EnergyPathways
Global Finance: What is your main achievement leading finance at EnergyPathways (EPP)?
Max Williams: EPP is developing a unique solution for energy storage and supply to support Britain’s energy transition. The project, called Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH), combines long-duration energy storage (LDES) and gas storage, while also growing hydrogen industries using its offshore storage facilities. The ability to drive the project forward has depended in the early stages on reliable and continuing support from equity shareholders who understand and believe in the company’s focus.
The signing of a financing agreement with a global institutional investor was an important step in the company being able to accelerate its pre-FEED (Pre-Front End Engineering Design) work program on both its LDES and gas storage license elements of its project. Our ongoing engagement with government, industry partners and banks will provide further significant funding to progress the project to and beyond the Final Investment Decision (FID). The company designed the full project to minimize government subsidies.
GF: What is the biggest challenge in funding operations for MESH, an £800 million integrated offshore facility in the UK (near the Lancashire coast)? What is the thing you spend most of your time on?
Williams: The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero designated the MESH Project to be one of national significance. It is designed to meet clean energy goals and provide employment in the region, engaging with Team Barrow [a public-private partnership that aims to revive this port town in northwestern England] and gaining increasing parliamentary support. The biggest challenge is to ensure that all stakeholders, including government, are aligned and supportive, enabling the company to meet key milestones and secure appropriate capital as the development progresses through FEED to FID and first revenues.
GF: How important is it for you to have a good team, and what defines a good team for you?
Williams: With a new concept project such as MESH, success depends on a strong team across all disciplines, not just the finance team but also the teams overseeing EnergyPathways’ technical and commercial operations. Project delivery is going to be a key discipline in arranging project financing. In the energy transition space, a good team functions efficiently and effectively across disciplines with clear communication around objectives and strategies to achieve them. EPP also benefits by having world-class industry partners, including Siemens, Wood Group, and Costain.
GF: How do you see AI affecting your work?
Williams: For a small company with a small team, the use of AI has so far been limited within the accounting function. However, this will develop as the company grows. The company already uses AI to maximize productivity and assist with project design and implementation. An AI energy management system is a key part of our development design, enabling MESH to ensure a reliable and flexible energy supply to Britain’s energy markets.
GF: What advice do you have for aspiring CFOs?
Williams: Being CFO will always put you at the center of reporting, information flow, and decision-making. For EnergyPathways, this means identifying the project’s financing needs and providing suitable, timely solutions to those requirements. In addition, the CFO ensures information transparency for investors and the broader stakeholder community.
GF: What keeps you up at night?
Williams: Matters that are outside the control of the company. For instance, EnergyPathways is developing solutions for energy storage and supply, offering security of supply with a focus on clean energy supply. Development of the MESH project may require changes to government strategy and policy, and macro, global factors may affect policy. The MESH project, though, would benefit the UK’s future energy supply regardless of the polar arguments of clean energy versus exploitation of the North Sea.
The man financing Britain’s clean energy future on doubt, policy risk, and the things no CFO can control.
As CFO of one of Britain’s most ambitious clean energy projects, EnergyPathways’ Max Williams has learned that securing capital is only half the job.
Since joining the firm in April 2025, Williams has been overseeing the finances of MESH, an £800 million offshore hub on the Lancashire coast set to combine long-duration energy storage, gas, and green hydrogen production in a single integrated facility.
With MESH still in the pre-FEED stage, the challenge lies not just in raising capital but in keeping government, institutional investors, and industry partners moving in lockstep toward a Final Investment Decision — and ultimately, execution.
A seasoned Chartered Accountant with three decades in energy and natural resources, Williams spoke with Global Finance about financing a first-of-its-kind project, the politics of clean energy, and what keeps him awake at night.
Max Williams, CFO, EnergyPathways
Global Finance: What is your main achievement leading finance at EnergyPathways (EPP)?
Max Williams: EPP is developing a unique solution for energy storage and supply to support Britain’s energy transition. The project, called Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH), combines long-duration energy storage (LDES) and gas storage, while also growing hydrogen industries using its offshore storage facilities. The ability to drive the project forward has depended in the early stages on reliable and continuing support from equity shareholders who understand and believe in the company’s focus.
The signing of a financing agreement with a global institutional investor was an important step in the company being able to accelerate its pre-FEED (Pre-Front End Engineering Design) work program on both its LDES and gas storage license elements of its project. Our ongoing engagement with government, industry partners and banks will provide further significant funding to progress the project to and beyond the Final Investment Decision (FID). The company designed the full project to minimize government subsidies.
GF: What is the biggest challenge in funding operations for MESH, an £800 million integrated offshore facility in the UK (near the Lancashire coast)? What is the thing you spend most of your time on?
Williams: The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero designated the MESH Project to be one of national significance. It is designed to meet clean energy goals and provide employment in the region, engaging with Team Barrow [a public-private partnership that aims to revive this port town in northwestern England] and gaining increasing parliamentary support. The biggest challenge is to ensure that all stakeholders, including government, are aligned and supportive, enabling the company to meet key milestones and secure appropriate capital as the development progresses through FEED to FID and first revenues.
GF: How important is it for you to have a good team, and what defines a good team for you?
Williams: With a new concept project such as MESH, success depends on a strong team across all disciplines, not just the finance team but also the teams overseeing EnergyPathways’ technical and commercial operations. Project delivery is going to be a key discipline in arranging project financing. In the energy transition space, a good team functions efficiently and effectively across disciplines with clear communication around objectives and strategies to achieve them. EPP also benefits by having world-class industry partners, including Siemens, Wood Group, and Costain.
GF: How do you see AI affecting your work?
Williams: For a small company with a small team, the use of AI has so far been limited within the accounting function. However, this will develop as the company grows. The company already uses AI to maximize productivity and assist with project design and implementation. An AI energy management system is a key part of our development design, enabling MESH to ensure a reliable and flexible energy supply to Britain’s energy markets.
GF: What advice do you have for aspiring CFOs?
Williams: Being CFO will always put you at the center of reporting, information flow, and decision-making. For EnergyPathways, this means identifying the project’s financing needs and providing suitable, timely solutions to those requirements. In addition, the CFO ensures information transparency for investors and the broader stakeholder community.
GF: What keeps you up at night?
Williams: Matters that are outside the control of the company. For instance, EnergyPathways is developing solutions for energy storage and supply, offering security of supply with a focus on clean energy supply. Development of the MESH project may require changes to government strategy and policy, and macro, global factors may affect policy. The MESH project, though, would benefit the UK’s future energy supply regardless of the polar arguments of clean energy versus exploitation of the North Sea.
There are two doubles wildcards available for the tournament at Queen’s, and one is reserved for a team which includes a former world number one, a Grand Slam champion of the past 10 years or a current top-30 player.
WIlliams has never liked the word retirement, preferring instead to say she was “evolving away” from tennis in 2022.
She lost to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open, in what the world thought would be her final match.
Williams had reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier that year, and won her last Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne in 2017 at the age of 35.
The Lawn Tennis Association has consistently prioritised British players when determining who should receive wildcards at domestic grass court events.
All four available for the singles draw are very likely to go to British players, but the LTA are likely to feel differently about the doubles given the “exceptional circumstances” of a potential Williams return.
“Never say never, and not wanting to speak of any one individual player, but you will have seen over recent years that those wildcard opportunities are afforded to British players – that is absolutely my fundamental personal belief and philosophy,” LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said at a briefing for journalists in April.
“There might be exceptional circumstances which might influence a unique wildcard, but otherwise those playing opportunities we want to afford to British players.”
The organisation’s performance director Michael Bourne also hinted commercial opportunities could be a factor.
“It’s also really important to remember that we in the performance team understand that players have to earn that right,” Bourne said.
“We don’t take them for granted. If we didn’t think we had a depth of player where it was right for them to take those opportunities, and there was something else that was good for the business, we would hold our hands up.”
