The wildcard debate
Serena Williams, Dan Evans and a questionable system
No one can deny that Serena Williams’s presence at Wimbledon will only serve to benefit tennis.
On Tuesday it was announced that Serena will partner with her sister Venus at SW19 this year, thanks to receiving a doubles wildcard from the tournament.
Seeing as this is Serena’s first major tournament appearance since 2022, this is a huge moment for the sport. The Williams sisters playing together on the same court will boost the number of eyeballs on doubles (Serena already did so at Queen’s and Berlin over the last two weeks) and increase the coverage around the tournament as a whole. It was a no-brainer to include them in the draw on that fact alone.
Not to mention that they have earned a free pass because of all they have achieved: the 30 major singles titles between them, 14 trophies together in doubles (six coming at Wimbledon), three joint Olympic golds, and their overall impact on tennis. Serena and Venus changed the sport in both tangible and intangible ways, including through the latter’s lobbying for equal pay at Wimbledon in 2007.
So, under the current wildcard system, there really is no argument to say the Williams sisters are undeserving of one. But it can also be true that wildcards are inherently unfair.
