Serena Williams is edging closer to her dramatic Wimbledon return, but a worry has been suggested ahead of her singles opener.
Williams plays Maya Joint in the first round of the Grand Slam, her first singles match in almost four years.
The 44-year-old WTA legend is also playing doubles at Wimbledon, having received a wildcard for both formats in London.
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Williams will compete alongside her sister Venus Williams at SW19, taking on Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in round one.
But her fellow former world number one Mats Wilander has shared a slight concern ahead of her singles opener, which arrives first.
Mats Wilander shares Serena Williams ‘worry’ ahead of Wimbledon
Wilander told TNT Sports: “I think on grass, the serve is the most important shot in the game, and we all know that Serena Williams most probably has the best women’s serve of all time.
“So that’s okay.
“The return of serve, she always had an unbelievably good return of serve and, on grass, the return of serve is the second most important shot.
“The only worry I see for her is if she plays somebody who can get the serve back in play, who knows how to rally maybe three or four or five shots every rally and then I worry about Serena Williams’ movement.
“And that… that doesn’t have anything to do with her age.
“The movement for everybody is much, much harder on the grass court.
“You don’t know if you’re going to slip, you don’t know if you need to slide, you don’t know if you should take short steps or long steps until you get some experience again.
“Of course, she has all the experience in the world, but she hasn’t done it for so many years.
“So if the ball is in play, I worry for Serena Williams.
“But if she plays somebody that also has a big serve and the rallies are very short, then I don’t think I worry that much.”
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Of course, plenty of attention is on Williams’ doubles venture with her sister, with the pair boasting six Wimbledon titles as partners.
But the legendary figure will also be eyeing a lengthy singles run at the All England Club, beginning with a win over Joint.
Williams has, however, not competed in singles since the 2022 US Open in New York, when she fell in the third round.
She was beaten 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 by Ajla Tomljanovic at her home Grand Slam, which was followed by a break of almost four years.
Since returning, the American won her only doubles match with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s, before losing her only doubles match with Karolina Muchova at Berlin.
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