Serena Williams is stepping back into the singles spotlight at Wimbledon. The All England Club announced Sunday that she accepted a wild-card invitation to join the main singles draw. The 44-year-old is now set to play both singles and doubles when the tournament begins on June 29.

This move follows her recent return to professional tennis. After nearly four years away from the tour, she initially returned to play doubles. Now, she is pulling double-duty in London, reuniting with her older sister, Venus Williams, for the doubles field.

Wimbledon organizers held onto the eighth and final women’s wild-card invitation specifically to give her time to make a decision. Wild-card entries allow former champions and select players direct entry into the tournament without meeting traditional qualification or ranking thresholds.

Her decision came after a bit of hesitation. Following a doubles match in Berlin earlier in the week, she seemed surprised to find out a spot was still available.

"Oh my gosh, there are some left?" she asked.

She even questioned her own readiness for the quick transition back to singles, asking a reporter, "Do you think I'm ready for singles?" She then turned to Czech player Karolina Muchová for an opinion. Muchova expressed interest in seeing the move, to which Serena replied, "That's the question of the hour, right? I don't know. I don't know. I wonder why there's — I don't know."

After the All England Club made the official announcement, she shared a playful update on X, posting, "Finished a mean game of duck duck goose."

Her last competitive singles appearance came at the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanović. At the time, she noted that she preferred to view her step back as "evolving" away from the game rather than traditional retirement.

Her track record at the All England Club is extensive. She owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, seven of which she won on the Wimbledon grass, most recently in 2016. Alongside Venus, she has claimed 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, including six at Wimbledon. The sisters also swept the singles and doubles gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics on the same courts.

Her ramp-up to this month's tournament included a doubles win at Queen’s Club last week with partner Victoria Mboko. That run was cut short after Mboko sustained a knee injury during a separate singles match, forcing the pair to withdraw.