She’s been on this a while now, appearing on tennis courts that most players her age have long forgotten, snatching wildcards, winning the odd match, and reminding us all why we fell in love with her in the first place. So Venus Williams, 45, is back on grass this summer with a new partner due to an unfortunate injury, and the timing has given her story a backdrop no one could have written, as Serena confirmed her comeback as well.

Venus Williams was linked with Hailey Baptiste in doubles at Queen’s Club, a partnership that felt like a quietly charming beginning to the grass swing. Then, Baptiste hurt her knee before the two could take the court together, and those plans were dead before they could begin. Venus recovered quickly. She is now on the entry list for the Bad Homburg Open in Germany, the WTA 500 event the week before Wimbledon, where she will team with Alexandra Eala.

With the court conditions specifically designed to replicate the exact grass court conditions of the Grand Slam in London, the Bad Homburg Open serves as the premier final tune-up for the Slam. 

Venus Williams is in the draw with fellow wildcards Alexandra Eala and Eva Lys, with Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina, and Mirra Andreeva also signing up for what is shaping up to be one of the strongest fields the tournament has seen.

It’s not a hard decision to justify playing the wildcard. “An all-time legend and one of the most popular players in the sport, that is just a good business decision giving them a wildcard,” analyst Chanda Rubin said on the Tennis Channel this week. “Venus can still sell so many tickets.” She won five Wimbledon singles titles between 2000 and 2008, reached the final as recently as 2017, and has been one of the most watchable players in the sport for the better part of three decades.

Her last appearance at Wimbledon came in 2023, when she lost to Elina Svitolina in the first round at 43. The appetite to see her on a grass court has not diminished since.

In the last two years, her doubles record with different partners has been quietly impressive. She teamed up with Baptiste to win doubles in Washington last summer and was awarded a wildcard into the 2025 US Open with Leylah Fernandez. She is not just there for the cameras. She’s playing, and the grass has always been the surface she’s most comfortable on.

Serena Is Coming Back Too, Making It A Family Affair

The story that has gripped tennis for the past week is the backdrop to Venus’s grass season. Her younger sister Serena, 44, will return to professional tennis. At 44, she revealed how she misses the sport and wants to compete against a new generation, and believes she can still make an immediate impact at a high level.

The WTA Tour announced on Monday that Serena has accepted a wildcard to play doubles at Queen’s Club with current World No. 9 Victoria Mboko. In addition, a doubles wildcard is planned for Berlin. Serena hasn’t played since her farewell at the 2022 US Open, nearly four years ago.

The sport’s most pressing question is whether the two sisters will play together. They won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together and have never lost a Grand Slam doubles final. Their most recent title came at Wimbledon in 2016. Their final appearance as a pair at a major was the 2022 US Open, which everyone assumed would be their last. When asked why they aren’t partnering this summer, the broadcaster smiled and said, “Somebody’s got to run for the balls.”

Venus at Bad Homburg, Serena at Queen’s Club, and Wimbledon sitting at the end of it all. The grass season has not looked like this in a very long time.