Venus Williams gets wild card to play singles at Wimbledon

Venus Williams is set to make her 24th appearance in the singles draw at Wimbledon after the 43-year-old American was given a wild-card entry Wednesday.

Williams is a five-time Wimbledon singles champion and was a finalist at the grass-court major in 2017, two decades after her debut at the All England Club.

Ranked 697th, Williams beat 48th-ranked Camila Giorgi 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6) on Monday at the Birmingham Classic. It was her first victory over a player in the top 50 in nearly four years, ending a 12-match losing streak.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion next plays Jelena Ostapenko at the Wimbledon warmup.

Williams' younger sister Serena is a seven-time Wimbledon champion. She lost in the first round at last year's tournament and soon after announced her decision to step away from tennis.

Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina and British players Heather Watson and Katie Boulter were also given wild cards. Svitolina reached the French Open quarterfinals following a maternity break before suffering a loss to Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova in her return to grass at Birmingham earlier this week.

David Goffin, a Belgian who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2019 and 2022, was among the men given wild cards. Four wild cards, two each for men and women, have yet to be announced.

Wimbledon begins July 3.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.