Serena Williams takes Parma wild card after early Rome exit

The first edition of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma takes place between May 16-22, offering players one of the last chances to shape their game ahead of Roland Garros.

Bianca Andreescu should have been the only top-20 player in the draw before she withdrew, leaving Madison Keys, Petra Martic and Veronika Kudermetova to fight for the trophy. On Wednesday, the organizers revealed thrilling news, with the 23-time Major champion Serena Williams joining the field with the wild card after an early Rome Open exit.

Serena took three months off after that heartbreaking Australian Open semi-final loss to Naomi Osaka in February, returning in Rome this week and suffering her first Foro Italico loss in over ten years. Serena lost to Nadia Podorska 7-6, 7-5 in two hours, getting broken four times and struggling to impose her strokes despite spending the last couple of weeks on clay. Unwilling to travel to Paris with one match on clay, Serena decided to enter Parma and seek victories ahead of the season's second Major at Roland Garros.

Williams trailed 5-4 in the opening set before pulling the break back and extend the set, only to lose it 8-6 in the tie break. The Argentine led 5-2 in set number two before the American bounced back and won 12 straight points! Losing momentum after that, Serena dropped the last two games to find herself on the losing side.