Serena return electrifies wide-open Wimbledon

LONDON, June 26 : A decade after Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon singles title, the American trailblazer's return next week adds a compelling new dimension to an already wide-open women's draw.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka will hope to climb from the deep, dark hole she fell into after collapsing to defeat in the French Open quarter-finals and win her first Wimbledon title.

Poland's Iga Swiatek will try to become the first player since Williams in 2016 to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles.

Fresh from becoming the youngest French Open champion for 34 years, Russian 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva will bring her audacious game to the pristine Wimbledon lawns.

Then there is American Coco Gauff's latest attempt to finally crack the grasscourt puzzle, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina's understated and often unplayable power game and the possibility that a resurgent Emma Raducanu can ride a wave of home support to a first British women's title since 1977.

But when 44-year-old Serena Williams strides on to the Centre Court she once owned, there will be only one story in town. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returns after a four-year absence having resumed a career that appeared over.

Having been granted the eighth and final singles wildcard by Wimbledon organisers, Williams' first competitive singles match since the 2022 U.S. Open will guarantee soaring TV ratings and drive social media into a frenzy.

Williams' comeback was one of the worst-kept secrets in tennis. She re-joined the anti-doping pool last December, has lost around 20lbs thanks to weight-loss drugs and has been putting in the hard yards with coach Rennae Stubbs.

The 120mph serve - one of the most potent weapons in the history of women's tennis - was on show