The grass court season is three weeks away, and it’s already promising to be one of the most interesting in years. The 2026 Bad Homburg Open, a WTA 500 tournament in Germany that runs from June 20-27, announced Thursday that Venus Williams, Alexandra Eala, and Eva Lys have all been given wildcards into the main draw.

At 45, Venus Williams has lost 10 straight WTA Tour singles matches but is still one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the sport. A seven-time Grand Slam champion and a five-time Wimbledon winner, every time she steps onto a grass court, the crowd knows that they may see something that they might not witness again.

Bad Homburg will be her fourth grass-court wildcard in recent times, a pattern that speaks both to the organizers’ commercial instincts and to a simple truth: Venus Williams still moves tickets.

Alexandra Eala, meanwhile, is at the other end of her career arc. The 20-year-old Filipina had reached the final of the Lexus Eastbourne Open last year on the grass court, but lost to Maya Joint. This will be her second grass appearance at the WTA Tour level in Bad Homburg. She was a good surface player in 2025, and this time she comes with more confidence, experience, and ranking points.

Eva Lys, who is currently outside the top 100 after an injury, looks like the sentimental choice for the home fans. One of Germany’s most popular players, Lys, has been working her way back into form. Bad Homburg is a chance to do it in front of an audience that has been waiting for her return.

However, this comes at a time when the bigger story is not Venus, but Serena. Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, has reportedly applied for a wildcard at the Queen’s Club Championships, making her return on long-awaited return on grass.

The Williams Sisters Can Share a Grass Court Season Again

Reports of Serena Williams’ return emerged this week on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast as the 44-year-old tennis star is expected to ask for a doubles wildcard with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, per reports.

Serena, 44, quietly went back into the ITIA anti-doping testing pool in late 2025, the first step for any retired player wanting to return. She had initially dismissed comeback speculation in December, posting on X: “Omg y’all, I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy.” However, she has now served the mandatory six-month testing period and is officially eligible to compete. Naomi Osaka said that she would be “really excited just to see her around the sites and playing matches again.” Madison Keys was more direct: “Let’s be real, we all want to watch Serena play tennis.”

If the reports are accurate, the Williams sisters would be on grass in June after years. Venus is in Bad Homburg, Germany; Serena is in Queen’s Club in London. Whether either will make it to SW19 is another matter, but the fact that the question is around is remarkable enough.