The iconic doubles pairing of Serena and Venus Williams is set to grace Wimbledon for the first time in 10 years. The two have received doubles wildcards for the Grand Slam and have gained direct entry into the main draw. They had last competed as a team back in 2016 and had gone on to win their sixth doubles title at the SW19.

That said, it is still unclear whether either of the two will return to singles action as well. Wimbledon has only announced its initial wildcards for the tournament. Seven of the eight women’s singles wildcards have already been awarded, and neither Serena nor Venus is among the recipients.

It remains to be seen whether either sister will be handed the final remaining wildcard.

The one likely to get a singles wildcard out of the two is Venus. She has been a part of several singles draws this season and has earned wildcards at various tournaments. Her last singles appearance came at the Madrid Open in April, where she was defeated by Kaitlin Quevedo 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.

Venus has also been active in doubles. She has played in the doubles draw at five tournaments so far, including the Australian Open. The 45-year-old was also scheduled to play doubles at the French Open, but her partner, Hailey Baptiste, suffered an injury during her singles match in the second round against Wang Xiyu.

On the other hand, Serena had recently made her long-awaited return to tennis at the HSBC Championships. She had gained a wildcard entry into the doubles draw and had formed a pair alongside Victoria Mboko. The two had breezed past the first round, recording a comfortable 7-6, 6-2 victory over the pair of Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.

However, their campaign in the tournament would then come to an abrupt end as Mboko suffered a knee injury during her singles clash. The Canadian had twisted her knee during the match against Karolina Pliskova and had to withdraw at 2-6, 4-3. She would then pull out of the HSBC Championships before also withdrawing from the remainder of the grass-court season.

So, Serena has played just once since returning to the sport for the first time since 2022. But she’ll have a chance to shake off the rust further at the Berlin Open, for which she earned a wildcard, and will once again be participating in the doubles draw.

She has formed a pair alongside World No. 10 Karolina Muchova, a player who is known to be a brilliant serve-and-volleyer. The two are set to begin their campaign with the clash against Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos on Tuesday. This will likely be Serena’s final preparation before Wimbledon, so she will be aiming to have a solid run in the German capital.

Serena and Venus Williams have achieved huge success in doubles as well

The pair of Serena and Venus can very well blow the competition wide open at SW19.

They would have to contend with some of the strongest doubles teams on the circuit, including reigning Wimbledon champions Kateřina Siniaková and Taylor Townsend, as well as Australian Open winners Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai.

That said, the Williams sisters may be best known for their success in singles, but they are also among the most successful women’s doubles pairs of the Open Era.

Serena and Venus have won a total of 23 tour-level WTA doubles titles. This includes a massive 14 Grand Slams. They have won the doubles title at SW19 on six occasions. They have also clinched four Australian Open titles and two titles each at both the French and US Open.

If this wasn’t all, then the two have also won three Olympic Golds as a doubles pair. They had triumphed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics, and 2012 London Olympics.

They may now be in their 40s, but make no mistake, the Williams sisters are still a force to be reckoned with and can’t be underestimated by any means.

It remains to be seen how far the duo will manage to go in the doubles draw of the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.