Serena Williams to play at Wimbledon after receiving wild-card invitation

Serena Williams will play later this month at Wimbledon, which has awarded a wild-card invitation to the 23-time Grand Slam winner.

Williams, who hasn't competed since injuring her right leg last year at Wimbledon, strongly hinted at a return to the grass-court Grand Slam earlier Tuesday in an Instagram post.

The All England Club announced that Williams, 40, was among the six women given a wild-card spot in the singles draw.

Williams posted a photo of her white shoes on what appears to be a grass court and the message: "SW and SW19. It's a date. 2022. See you there. Let's Go."

"SW19" is the London postcode for the All England Tennis Club and also is a common tennis reference for Wimbledon's famed Centre Court.

Williams also will compete at the grass-court event at Eastbourne, which confirmed she has received a wild card in the doubles draw. Her Instagram post included an "Eastbourne" tag, a reference to the Wimbledon warm-up event that starts Saturday.

Williams has won seven Wimbledon singles titles, with her most recent coming in 2016, and her 23 Grand Slam titles are a record in the professional era. Only one player in tennis history owns more: Margaret Court with 24.

Williams was the Wimbledon runner-up in 2018 and 2019; the tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, Williams lost her footing on the slick grass and then her right leg buckled, leading to just the second midmatch retirement at any Grand Slam tournament of her career and first since 1998.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.