Wimbledon bend rules to allow 'massive global stars' Serena and Venus Williams to play doubles on Saturday
WTAFriday, 03 July 2026 at 19:30
Wimbledon chiefs have admitted that they have bent rules in order to give Serena Williams the best chance of playing again at Wimbledon.
With a right knee injury in her 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 loss to Maya Joint, Williams was widely expected to withdraw all together from the doubles with her sister Venus and they haven't showed up especially on Friday in any of the scheduling.
ESPN confirmed yesterday that it looked likely that they would indeed play after all and while in reality Serena who is the big question mark could pull out at the 11th hour, Wimbledon are aiming to give them the best chance of playing.
This will likely heighten criticism though with certain junctures not exactly pleased at the pomp and circumstance regarding Serena's return and then loss to Joint and how she then didn't do media either. Now Wimbledon have confirmed that seemingly they want to do everything if possible to help her play.
Jamie Baker, Tournament Director, said they broke tradition to allow Serena Williams to work out if she can play alongside her sister. So much so that she only shows on Saturday's order of play as a TBA and isn't fully confirmed.
“We are giving her as much time, obviously we want her to play if she possibly can," said Baker in a Wimbledon press conference.
“In terms of the days, it’s actually a guideline, that’s what we’re hoping to do based on trying to get the tournament finished,” said the former tennis star.
“There are actually sometimes exceptional circumstances, whether it’s weather or injuries. We wouldn’t do that if we felt that it was putting the rest of the competition in any type of danger of putting it back.”
Wimbledon try to give Serena best chance to play.
No small court for Serena and Venus
Albeit unlike Venus Williams in mixed doubles earlier today when she lost to Lloyd Glasspool and Tereza Mihailova with Kevin Krawietz, they will not be on a small court. Baker went on to confirm that they will get a big court placing if they play which perhaps could be Centre or Court No.1 despite singles of course still being the priority.
But it seems that wherever it is, they will have the eyes of the tennis world on them and Wimbledon will want to do everything they can to help with that.
“Serena and Venus, they’re massive global stars, so there’s a lot of people who want to see," he concluded.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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