Wimbledon has been branded ‘not a serious tournament’ after giving Serena Williams a singles wildcard and scheduling her return to SW19 to be on Centre Court.
Williams, 44, was handed a wildcard to compete in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon and will play alongside her sister Venus, 45.
Neither were included on the initial list of singles wildcards but the seven-time singles champion accepted an invitation after the final spot was left unfilled.
Williams has played two doubles matches since making her competitive return to tennis earlier in the month following four years out of the game.
When she announced her retirement in 2022, the American great was one short of Margaret Court’s long-standing women’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Williams will make her Wimbledon return on Tuesday when she faces Australia’s Maya Joint on the iconic Centre Court.
The veteran’s return has been met with excitement from fellow players, pundits and fans but Grand Slam-winning coach Calvin Betton has concerns.
Betton, who coaches former Wimbledon and Australian Open champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara, doubts Williams has ‘serious’ intentions in the sport and therefore disagrees with her singles wildcard and the decision to put her on Centre Court.
‘I don’t think you can be doing stuff like this,’ Betton said on the Tennis Unfiltered podcast.
‘Isn’t it a gateway drug to getting people like Jake Paul in there? He would put bums on seats and give tournaments some marketing reach… Where’s all this leading?
‘I don’t think it would be that by the way, that’s me greatly exaggerating it, but what if one of the tournaments now says we would love to have Roger Federer playing and are willing to pay him millions? What if another tournament does the same with Rafael Nadal? It could get a bit silly.
‘If she was coming back and saying, “I’m having a run at this, my intention is to get back to the top of the rankings and I want to see how well I can do” then I would be much more sympathetic to it and I would even back it.
‘But we’re giving a wildcard to someone who’s not seriously trying to compete at tennis anymore and instead it’s purely for promotional reasons.
‘This is my biggest problem with it. We keep hearing that she wants to come back and win – but she doesn’t want to win enough to stay around.
‘I suspect this return will just be for Wimbledon, the US Open and a couple of the Masters events, that’s it.
‘And that’s where I have a problem because this is not a serious tennis professional and we’re giving them wildcards into the Wimbledon draw.’
Williams is last out on Centre Court on Tuesday and follows defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek and British hopeful Jack Draper.
‘It’s going to be interesting to see what court they put her on at Wimbledon,’ Betton added before the order of play was confirmed. ‘You can’t logistically put her on Centre Court, I don’t think.
‘There’s enough other big names in the game. Again, I’ll stress it, this is a 44-year-old who hasn’t played a singles tennis match in four years.
‘I think they need to put her on Court Two or something, I don’t think you can put her on Centre, there’s just too many big names. She’s not a serious tennis player, she’s a retired tennis player.
‘If so you might have to bump someone like Elena Rybakina off to Court Two, a former winner and the world number two.
‘I don’t think you can put someone on Centre Court who hasn’t played a singles tennis match in four years and is 44 years old.
‘It would be a disgrace, if would be a disgrace if they do. That tournament can’t be taken seriously if that happens.
‘She probably will play on Centre Court purely for a safety thing but I don’t think she should be and I don’t think it’s reasonable to the other players.’
Tennis broadcaster George Bellshaw has also questioned Williams’ Wimbledon wildcard but understands why SW19 bosses extended her to invite.
‘To be consistent with our previous wildcard conversations by the way, I don’t think she should get a singles Wimbledon wildcard from a playing perspective,’ he said.
‘I think that would be absolutely ridiculous. I think they absolutely will give her one though if she asks for it.’
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic – who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam and an eighth Wimbledon title – has described Williams’ return as ‘inspirational and epic’.
‘What she’s doing is inspirational and it’s epic,’ Djokovic said during his media press conference. ‘That’s what I told her.
‘I always admired her career, her journey, her story. Of course, Venus, as well.
‘For her to come back after years of being absent from the tour, two children later, and to give so much effort, not just for her own satisfaction or coming back on the tour, but also to give all of us a pleasure of seeing her back on the court – in singles as well as doubles – is remarkable.
‘I told her that whatever happens, what she’s doing is truly inspirational for me personally, I’m sure for millions around the world.
‘I see her in the gym more than I have, I think, seen her when she was at her prime. It tells me that she really wants this to work out the best way possible.
‘It’s admirable, honestly, the effort she’s putting in. Of course, all eyes are on her comeback.
‘I just hope that she will enjoy because she really deserves. She created something historical, legendary in her career. She deserves every applause she’s going to get.’
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