Limping off Centre Court with a torn hamstring while fighting tears is not how Serena Williams wants to remember Wimbledon.

Williams has not featured in a competitive singles match since she suffered that injury in SW19 in 2021, but the 23-time grand slam champion is making her comeback at the All England Club.

The 40-year-old has seven Wimbledon singles titles under her belt, the most recent of which came in 2016, while she reached the final in 2018 and 2019, only to lose to Angelique Kerber and Serena Halep.

Now, having put her hamstring issue behind her, Williams is determined to create a new lasting memory in London.

"Yeah, it was a lot of motivation, to be honest," she told reporters on Saturday when reflecting on how her previous Wimbledon campaign ended.

"It was always something since the match ended that was always on my mind. So it was a tremendous amount of motivation for that.

"You never want any match to end like that. It's really unfortunate."

Williams returned to competition last week, playing doubles with Ons Jabeur in Eastbourne, and makes her highly anticipated return to Wimbledon facing Harmony Tan, a 24-year-old from France who is ranked 113th.

Despite being just one short of Margaret Court's long-standing record haul of 24 majors, Williams is not making any lofty predictions as to how far she can go at Wimbledon.

"I have high goals, but also... I don't know," she said. "We'll see."

If she beats Tan, Williams might then face Sara Sorribes Tormo, and if she can get past her, she would likely then play sixth seed Karolina Pliskova, the former world number one who was the runner-up to Ash Barty at last year's Wimbledon and also a finalist at the 2016 US Open.

Williams was hoping to play at Flushing Meadows last year but needed more time to heal mentally and physically.

"I felt like last year was tough," she said. "I felt like I was injured for most of the year. Then I ripped my hamstring. That was tough. I don't think anyone ever wants to do that. So, in general, the whole experience was rough.

"Then, from there, I still tried to make New York. I gave everything I could, just every day getting ready or trying to make it. But then it's just like: I'm not going to make it, hung up my racquets for a little bit until I could just heal."

The thought of retiring never entered her mind during her time away from the game, however. In addition to recovering, she spent the last year getting in the right frame of mind.

"I didn't retire," Williams said. "I just needed to heal physically, mentally. And yeah, I had no plans, to be honest.

"I just didn't know when I would come back. I didn't know how I would come back. Obviously Wimbledon is such a great place to be, and it just kind of worked out."

Serena Williams' presence at Wimbledon has left world number one Iga Swiatek "pretty overwhelmed".

Williams is making her long-awaited return to action at the All England Club, as the 40-year-old takes another shot at matching Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam victories.

The American has played only two competitive matches – both alongside Ons Jabeur in the doubles at the Eastbourne International – since she sustained a hamstring tear at last year's Wimbledon, but is back on a wildcard.

Three years ago, Williams became the oldest player to reach Wimbledon's women's singles final when she lost to Simona Halep. Six years ago, she was the oldest champion when she beat Angelique Kerber, although it seems a long shot for her to be challenging for honours this time around.

That is in part due to the remarkable form of top seed Swiatek, who heads to SW19 on the back of a 35-match winning streak that she is aiming to extend.

The Pole was not born when Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1998, but she was the junior champion at the All England Club in 2018 and has since won the French Open twice. She is aiming to become the first woman since Kerber in 2016 to win two singles slams in the same season.

Yet Swiatek remains in awe of Williams.

"I saw her yesterday, I was pretty overwhelmed," said Swiatek in a news conference on Saturday.

"I didn't know how to react. I wanted to meet her. I saw that she had so many people around her. I don't know her team. It was pretty weird.

"But just seeing her around is great because she's such a legend, there's nobody that has done so much in tennis.

"I'm pretty sure that she's going to be in good shape because she has so much experience coming back from breaks or just playing in grand slams. I think she can use it."

Swiatek has never progressed past the fourth round of the singles at Wimbledon and will be making her first appearance of the season on grass when she takes on Jana Fett on Tuesday.

"Honestly I still feel like I need to figure out grass," she said. "Last year for sure, it was that kind of tournament where I didn't know what to expect.

"Then match by match I realised maybe I can do more and more.

"I didn't have a lot of time to prepare. But I'm just trying to stay open-minded and kind of take positives from the situation and realise that I can play without any expectations."

Rafael Nadal is halfway to a calendar Grand Slam, a feat that would mark the crowning point of any player's career.

Yet the Spanish great does not have to look far back into history to see how quickly that dream can be scuppered, with Novak Djokovic having fallen agonisingly short of a sweep of all four majors only last year.

As perhaps the most grounded player in tennis, Nadal heads into Wimbledon well aware that winning the first two majors of the year is no guarantee of any future success.

At the age of 36, and with a foot problem that requires careful maintenance, it would be arguably the most remarkable feat in the Open Era if Nadal were to add the Wimbledon and US Open titles to his Australian Open and French Open triumphs.

Such dominance is scarce in tennis, and Rod Laver was the last player to scoop all four men's singles titles at the majors, all the way back in 1969.

Steffi Graf won all four on the women's side in 1988, and it seemed a knock-in that Serena Williams would do likewise in 2015 when she headed to the US Open with three majors already bagged.

But Williams famously came unstuck when she faced Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals, while Djokovic went even closer in 2021, losing to Daniil Medvedev in the final at Flushing Meadows.

Here, Stats Perform examines the daunting challenge of scooping all four slams consecutively.

WHAT THE GREAT CHAMPIONS SAY

Before tennis reached its Open Era, which marked the dawning of professionalism on the tour, Laver won his first calendar Grand Slam in 1962.

He said later, quoted by the Tennis Hall of Fame: "It was a thrill to come off the court knowing I had won all four majors in one year. But I never felt like I was the best, never felt that way. I just happened to have a good year."

His 1969 dominance came a year after Laver returned to the majors, following a five-year exile while he played professional tennis elsewhere. When the majors allowed professionals to compete alongside the amateurs, 'Rocket Rod' was again unstoppable.

Laver turned 31 in 1969 and did not win any further grand slam singles titles in his career after that astonishing season, but that second perfect season sealed his legacy as an all-time great.

Stefan Edberg won a boys' singles clean sweep in 1983, but Laver remains the only player to win the men's singles full set in a calendar year since American Don Budge captured all four in the 1938 season, the first time it was achieved by a man. Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court achieved calendar Grand Slams in women's singles in 1953 and 1970 respectively.

A non-calendar Grand Slam was accomplished by Djokovic, when he won Wimbledon, the US Open, Australian Open and French Open consecutively across the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Yet no man other than Laver, Budge and Djokovic has won all four singles crowns in succession.

It has been 11 years since Nadal himself went close. He went to the Australian Open in 2011 with the Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open trophies in the bag, looking to complete the set.

"I am sure it's going to be the only one opportunity that I'm going to have in my life," said Nadal that year. "I'm not going to have more of these opportunities to win all four in a row.

"I think it is almost impossible. It is very, very difficult, no? Tennis is a very competitive sport and there is not a lot of difference between players. So a lot of matches are decided in a few balls. So for that reason it is very difficult to have one player winning everything. That's the truth."

Nadal, hampered by injury, lost in the Melbourne quarter-finals to David Ferrer in 2011 and had not won back-to-back slams since, until this year's surprise double. 

REACHING PRESSURE POINT

It is too soon to think that Nadal has a glorious chance to land all four big ones this year. After all, although he has won Wimbledon twice before, those triumphs came in 2008 and 2010, and he has a chronic foot problem. He has required radiofrequency ablation treatment in the past fortnight, preventing nerves in his foot sending messages to his brain.

He fell to Djokovic in the 2011 Wimbledon final and has not been back to the title match since, suffering a run of disappointing early exits in London before reaching semi-finals in 2018 and 2019, his last visits to the tournament.

Djokovic is a heavy favourite for this year's title, but it would be bold to entirely rule out Nadal, particularly given that as the second seed he cannot run into Djokovic until the final. Particularly given that he is Rafael Nadal, and prone to doing stupendous things.

Serbian Djokovic, a year Nadal's junior, would be able to tell his great rival just how intense the strain can become when a calendar Grand Slam becomes a serious prospect.

Speaking in November last year, two months after Medvedev denied him in New York, Djokovic said: "I'm very relieved that the grand slam season was done, because I felt a tremendous pressure unlike anything I felt in my life.

"It was an interesting experience, and I'm very satisfied with the way I played in grand slams, three wins and a final. There are much more positive things to be grateful for and to look at than negative."

Like Djokovic, Serena Williams has managed the non-calendar Grand Slam before, with the American first achieving that from the French Open in 2002 to the Australian Open in 2003, and in 2015 she was aiming for five slams in a row when she arrived at the US Open, having begun her dominant streak at her home grand slam the previous year.

That would have meant Williams sealed each of the 2015 slams, and losing to Vinci led to stark frustration, underlined by a terse response to the question of how disappointed she felt by the result.

"I don't want to talk about how disappointing it is for me," Williams said. "If you have any other questions, I'm open for that."

Sometimes, players get ahead of themselves when looking at the season ahead, and Naomi Osaka had a calendar Grand Slam in her thoughts after winning the season-opening Australian Open in 2019.

She had also triumphed at the US Open at the end of 2018, and the Japanese star was beginning to think she might enjoy an invincible year at the majors, only to stumble to a third-round French Open defeat to Katerina Siniakova.

Osaka said: "I think I was overthinking this calendar slam. For me this is something that I have wanted to do forever, but I have to think about it like if it was that easy, everyone would have done it."

Former Wimbledon doubles champion Pam Shriver has said she does not disagree with the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this year's tournament.

Shriver landed 21 women's doubles grand slam titles, of which 20 came in partnership with Martina Navratilova, and 112 career doubles titles in all, and she also claimed 21 singles tournament wins.

Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from this year's Wimbledon due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Shriver – who won five women's doubles championships with Navratilova at Wimbledon – said while she did not like that it was a decision that needed to be made, she did not object to it.

"War is messy, right? War is tragic. It's been a horror show for Ukrainian people," said American Shriver. "And there's a lot of Ukrainian professional tennis players that are just living through hell.

"Obviously, the decision has been made to try and have the tightest of sanctions. So when you think about the industry of pro tennis, if we're going to have sanctions as well, then Wimbledon [should too], and I understand the UK government has put some pressure throughout the country to not do business with Russians during this time.

"I wish they had never had to make the decision, but I think under the circumstances, I can't say I disagree [with it]."

Shriver also said the decision from the ATP, WTA and ITF to remove ranking points from this year's tournament was "really unfortunate".

However, she does not believe it will make Wimbledon seem like an exhibition, saying: "It's not an exhibition because of the prize money and because of the prestige of winning a Wimbledon title.

"Those are actually the two main things. I think the points are third, and so you're missing the third most important aspect, but the prize money is huge, and [the tournament] will be just as prestigious as ever."

As a result of the ban on Russian players, men's world number one Daniil Medvedev will not be in attendance at SW19, but Shriver does not think it will diminish the competition.

"You know, maybe some years it would [be a problem that Medvedev is not there] but... you're going to have the number one seed being [Novak] Djokovic and number two seed being [Rafael] Nadal," she said.

"When you have the player who has more majors than anybody else ever in the men's game at 22, Rafa, and you have Novak trying to win his fourth straight Wimbledon and his seventh overall and trying to chase Rafa's 22, I think that's going to hide the fact we don't have a number one.

"It's going to be an unusual year to not have rankings one and two [Medvedev and the injured Alexander Zverev], but I feel like the names on the men's side, [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Matteo] Berrettini, [Hubert] Hurkacz got to the semis last year, the two Canadian guys [Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov].

"I feel like there's still such great depth and with Rafa and Novak leading the way, it's fine."

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal avoided the looming threat of Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios in Friday's Wimbledon draw.

With both Murray and Kyrgios unseeded, they could have been drawn to face any of the top seeds, but it did not work out that way, most likely to everyone's satisfaction.

Instead, top seed and tournament favourite Djokovic drew South Korean Kwon Soon-woo, while Nadal was pitted with 23-year-old Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.

Djokovic will be bidding for a seventh Wimbledon title and a fourth in succession following triumphs in 2018, 2019 and 2021, after the cancellation of the 2020 championships.

For second seed Nadal, who has won the Australian Open and French Open already this year to reach a record 22 men's grand slam singles titles, there is the possibility of a rare calendar Grand Slam.

He must carry off the title at Wimbledon for the first time since 2010 to stay in the hunt for that elusive clean sweep, last achieved in men's singles in 1969 by Rod Laver.

Murray, who like Nadal is a two-time former Wimbledon champion, was paired with James Duckworth of Australia and could face big-serving American John Isner in round two. Murray has been troubled by an abdominal strain in the past fortnight, and it remains to be seen whether the 35-year-old is in shape to be a contender.

Duckworth's countryman Kyrgios has been in fine form of late, reaching consecutive semi-finals in Houston, Stuttgart and Halle before he too suffered an abdominal twinge this week and withdrew from the Mallorca Championships. Kyrgios will start against Britain's Paul Jubb at Wimbledon.

A notable first-round clash saw three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka, in the draw on a wildcard, paired with Italian 10th seed Sinner, while Matteo Berrettini, runner-up to Djokovic last year, will play Chile's Cristian Garin.

Powerful Italian Berrettini, who has won the Stuttgart and Queen's Club titles on grass this year, features on Nadal's side of the draw, while in the top half Djokovic has the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkacz for company.

Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish revelation who has won four titles already this year, was drawn to face the experienced German Jan-Lennard Struff in round one.

Men's third seed Casper Ruud has never won a singles match at Wimbledon, losing in the first round on his previous two appearances. The recent French Open runner-up will look to get off the mark on the SW19 grass against 34-year-old Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Serena Williams will begin her Wimbledon challenge against French player Harmony Tan, who will be making her main-draw debut.

For 40-year-old American Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, there will be relief at avoiding a seed in the first round.

That was a possibility given that Williams is in the draw on a wildcard, having not played singles since suffering an ankle injury in her Wimbledon opener 12 months ago.

Instead, the 23-time grand slam winner will face the world number 113, who lost in the first round of the recent French Open, perhaps as soft a landing as Williams could have had.

Wimbledon begins on Monday at the All England Club, with women's defending champion Ash Barty not involved after announcing a shock retirement in March.

Williams has returned to action this week at the Eastbourne International, winning through two rounds in doubles alongside Ons Jabeur, before the duo pulled out due to a knee worry for Jabeur.

Awaiting the winner of Williams versus Tan will be American Christina McHale or Spanish 32nd seed Sara Sorribes Tormo, while last year's runner-up Karolina Pliskova is a potential third-round obstacle.

Women's top seed Iga Swiatek starts against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett, while Britain's US Open champion Emma Raducanu was drawn to face the experienced Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck, a player who knocked out the then-defending champion Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon four years ago.

Tunisian third seed Jabeur was paired with Swedish qualifier Mirjam Bjorklund, Pliskova faces fellow Czech Tereza Martincova, and American Coco Gauff, fresh from a first grand slam final in Paris, drew Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Estonia's Anett Kontaveit, who may struggle to live up to her billing as the second seed having never previously gone past round three, plays American Bernarda Pera first up.

Among former champions, Angelique Kerber tackles Kristina Mladenovic in her opener, while Simona Halep was handed a tough assignment against Karolina Muchova.

Of all the players in the draw this year, Muchova is the woman with the highest winning percentage in Wimbledon main draw matches.

The Czech has an 80 per cent success record, winning eight matches and losing twice after reaching the quarter-finals in her both previous appearances, losing to Elina Svitolina in 2019 and Kerber last season.

Carlos Alcaraz does not believe he should be considered among the favourites to win Wimbledon given his lack of experience playing on grass. 

The teenage Spaniard is enjoying a breakout season, having won a pair of ATP Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid and picked up further silverware in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona. 

Alcaraz has been seeded fifth for just his second main-draw appearance at Wimbledon. Last year, he beat Yasutaka Uchiyama in five sets before falling to a straight-sets defeat against Daniil Medvedev. 

They are Alcaraz's only ATP Tour-level matches on grass, so his main focus heading to the All England Club is to simply improve his feel for the surface. 

"I don't mind being in the spotlight, I don't see it as pressure, but I've seen that I'm considered one of the favourites for Wimbledon. I don't see it that way at all," Alcaraz told the Spanish media. 

"There are many players who play better than me on grass. [Novak] Djokovic, Rafa [Rafael Nadal], [Matteo] Berrettini... We are going to try to gain experience on this surface. 

"Knowing how to move well on grass is very important. I think it's the key to being able to get good results. We're trying to improve in mobility and the small details that are more important on this surface. 

"Being more aggressive, trying to take advantage of the fact that I volley well – those things." 

Alcaraz is playing an exhibition tournament at Hurlingham this week and lost his opening match against Frances Tiafoe 6-4 6-2 on Thursday. 

The world number seven has been struggling with an elbow issue, but experienced no discomfort during his defeat. 

"A week ago, I couldn't train at all," he added. "I came here unsure if I was going to be able to play normally.

"The days I've been able to train I've felt quite well – zero pain in the elbow – and today there was no pain in the match with Tiafoe."

Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur have pulled out of their Eastbourne International doubles semi-final due to an injury concern just days before Wimbledon begins.

Organisers said Tunisian world number three singles star Jabeur was troubled by a right knee injury, forcing her brief alliance with Williams to come to an end.

They had won through two rounds in increasingly impressive style, with Williams making her return to the WTA Tour, having not played competitive tennis since injuring an ankle at Wimbledon last year.

The 40-year-old Williams was clearly enjoying the partnership with Jabeur, who in May became the first African or Arab woman to win a WTA 1000 singles title when she triumphed at the Madrid Open.

They had named themselves 'Onsrena' and were due to face Aleksandra Krunic and Magda Linette in the semi-finals, before news emerged on Thursday of their withdrawal.

No details of the seriousness of Jabeur's injury were disclosed, and it may prove a precautionary withdrawal given Wimbledon is so close, with the latter starting on Monday.

Jabeur won a title on grass in Berlin last week, showing she could pose a threat to top seed Iga Swiatek, providing she is not hampered by injury.

Williams, a 23-time grand slam singles champion, will also be competing at Wimbledon after being handed a wildcard entry into the tournament where she has won seven singles titles.

Serena Williams lauded her doubles partner Ons Jabeur after they advanced to the semi-finals of the Eastbourne International on Wednesday. 

Playing in her first tournament since retiring from the opening round of Wimbledon injured last year, Williams acknowledged she was particularly reliant on Jabeur during their 6-2 6-4 success over Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching. 

The 23-time grand slam singles champion opted to only play doubles on the south coast as she gears up for a return to the All England Club. 

"I think we played together much better," said Williams. "Although I thought we played really good together [against Maria Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo on Tuesday] too. 

"But Ons really held me up. She was really playing so good. I was looking at her and was like, 'Wow, this is great.' It's good." 

Williams and Jabeur will take on Aleksandra Krunic and Magda Linette for a place in the final. 

Jabeur playfully asked the 40-year-old if she would like to play together at the US Open, to which the former world number one responded: "Sign me up!" 

The Tunisian added: "I'm getting used to this. It was really great to play here and I didn't know we are in the semi-finals. It's super fast, but it's great for us." 

Rafael Nadal proved his fitness on his return to action ahead of Wimbledon with a routine straight-sets victory over Stan Wawrinka in Wednesday's exhibition match.

The 37-year-old has won the Australian Open and French Open titles already this year, but his bid for a grand slam sweep was halted by a troublesome foot problem.

Nadal triumphed at Roland Garros despite needing pain-killing injections before every match, leaving his fitness in doubt for Wimbledon next week.

However, the 22-time grand slam winner confirmed last week he was planning on taking part in the third major of the year after spending time training on grass in Mallorca.

And in his first match since beating Casper Ruud in the French Open final two-and-a-half weeks ago, Nadal eased past Wawrinka at the Hurlingham Club in London.

The Spaniard raced into a five-game lead in the opener and, despite losing his break of serve in the seventh game, saw out a straightforward opening set.

Playing in front of around 1,300 spectators, Nadal was pushed a little harder in the second set but still came through relatively unscathed to win 6-2 6-3 in a little over an hour.

Wawrinka, who has been handed a wild card for Wimbledon, expects Nadal to be right in the mix for a third crown at All England Club, 12 years on from his most recent triumph.

"After that I have a lot to work on," he joked. "But it's OK, it's against Rafa. We are used to losing against him. It's normal!.

"I don't know how he's feeling – it looks like normal Rafa. He has been saying he is feeling better and if he is playing he is ready to play his best and to win.

"I think Rafa any time he enters a grand slam is going to be one of the favourites, if not the favourite. 

"He won the first two slams of the year without too many matches before those grand slams so he got a lot of confidence so of course he is part of the favourites."

As well as twice winning Wimbledon, Nadal has also reached the semi-finals in his past two appearances in 2018 and 2019.

After getting a first grass-court appearance in three years under his belt, he is hoping for more happy memories during his time in the English capital.

"I have spent some fantastic moments here in London," he said. "Playing of course at the World Tour Finals a lot of times but of course playing at Wimbledon since 2003. 

"It was always a big goal and a dream for me to achieve important things here at Wimbledon and I was able to make that happen for the first time in 2008. 

"Since that moment, I always come back with the same passion and I always feel very welcomed by the crowd here."
 
Nadal will be number two seed when the draw takes place on Friday, with long-time rival Novak Djokovic the top seed in the absence of Daniil Medvedev.

The calendar Grand Slam remains a "realistic goal" for Rafael Nadal, but he will not lose sleep over the holy grail in tennis as he prepares for Wimbledon.

That is the message from Carlos Moya, who is a former world number one and has coached Nadal since 2016.

Nadal made an incredible comeback at the start of 2022 from a foot injury that has plagued much of his career, winning the Australian Open before claiming another French Open crown.

The 36-year-old surpassed Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the men's all-time grand slam wins list with victory in Melbourne, with Roland Garros success representing his 22nd major title.

Nadal has repeatedly played down the prospect of winning all four men's majors in a calendar year, with Rod Laver the last to do so all the way back in 1969.

While the calendar Grand Slam remains on the cards, Moya warned Nadal is only halfway to completing the illustrious haul as the Spaniard heads to Wimbledon.

"It is a realistic goal, right now he is the only one that can achieve it this year," Moya told Eurosport Spain.

"It is the first time in his career that he is in a position to achieve it, but we see it as something far away, it is only halfway.

"At the moment he doesn't lose sleep, as a team few things keep us up at night and this is not one of them.

"We have to go little by little, it is not something that we talk about, it is not a primary objective, although we are not going to give up on it."

Nadal revealed in Paris that he intended to have radiofrequency injections to boost his hopes of competing at the All England Club, and he has undergone two courses of said treatment.

Wimbledon starts on Monday, a tournament that Nadal has won in 2008 and 2010, but he has not played there since reaching the semi-finals in 2019.

Nadal ramped up his preparations with a week training on grass in Mallorca before playing an invitation event at Hurlingham Club this week, where he faced Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday.

"We had a pretty good week of training in Mallorca, although the grass there is a bit different from London, maybe that's why it's taking a little bit for him to adapt to the grass in England," Moya added.

"Right now, the important thing is that he spends time on the court and that his foot is fine, little by little he will pick up the pace, we also hope that the draw will help, especially in the first games.

"At Wimbledon there can always be more surprises. Regardless of the player you get in those first rounds, what is dangerous is the type of opponent you get, you have to be careful with the sluggers.

"Now he has two important exhibition matches, my confidence in him for Wimbledon remains the highest. He is perfectly suited to grass."

Serena Williams doubted whether she would return to elite tennis as she stepped up her Wimbledon preparations by playing doubles with Ons Jabeur at the Eastbourne International.

Williams teamed up with Jabeur on Tuesday to record a thrilling win over Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo in her first competitive outing since last June, when she was forced to retire from her first-round Wimbledon clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich through injury.

Having been granted a wildcard entry to the year's third grand slam, which begins next week, Williams is bidding for her first major title since winning 2017's Australian Open.

But speaking after her successful return to the court, Williams admitted her comeback had been far from certain.

"Did I ever doubt I would return? Absolutely, for sure. I would be dishonest if I said it wasn't and now my body feels great," she said.

"I definitely felt good out there and I was talking with Ons in the first set saying 'we're not playing bad' because they were just playing really good in that first set.

"But obviously winning, getting more balls and playing a little bit more made us feel a lot better. It definitely felt reassuring. It has been clicking in practice and now it seems like it is clicking. It is doubles but it still means a lot to both of us to be in it."

Williams and Jabeur will face Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-Ching in Eastbourne's doubles quarter-finals after posting an impressive 2-6 6-3 13-11 victory in their first outing.

With Williams now ranked 1,204th in the world and aged 40, speculation has abounded as to whether her SW19 appearance will mark the beginning of a farewell tour for the seven-time Wimbledon champion.

However, Williams is not rushing to make any further decisions about her future in the game.

"You know what, I am literally taking it one day at a time. I really took my time with my hamstring injury so I am not making a ton of decisions after this," she added.

"I did a lot of non-training in the beginning obviously and after I couldn't play New York [2021's US Open] I went cold turkey of not working out.

"It felt good, but I always try to stay semi-fit because you never know when you are going to play Wimbledon.

"I love tennis and I love playing otherwise I wouldn't be here, but I also love what I do off the court."

Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic and women's world number one Iga Swiatek head the seedings for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.

The championships issued its lists of seeds on Tuesday, with Russian and Belarusian players absent from the line-up after they were excluded from the tournament because of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

It means Russia's men's world number one Daniil Medvedev is absent, while Germany's second-ranked Alexander Zverev also misses out, in his case because of an ankle injury.

With Wimbledon sticking to the ATP and WTA rankings, that means world number three Djokovic automatically moves up to the top seeding as he chases a seventh title at the All England Club, and a 21st grand slam win of his career.

Two-time Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal is the second seed, with the Spaniard having already won the Australian Open and French Open titles this year to nudge two majors ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer on the all-time men's list. Federer, still battling his way back from knee surgery, will not play Wimbledon this year and turns 41 in August.

Norway's Casper Ruud, fresh from reaching the French Open final, is the third seed, with Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas fourth. Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz is fifth, while Great Britain's Cameron Norrie, ninth on the list, receives his first top-10 seeding at Wimbledon.

Norrie is bumped up from his world ranking of number 12, given world number eight Andrey Rublev, another Russian, is prevented from competing.

The women's reigning champion Ash Barty has retired since capturing the title last July, so her successor as the dominant player on the WTA Tour, Swiatek, assumes the top seeding.

Swiatek has reeled off 35 consecutive match wins, dominating on hardcourts and clay, but she has less of a grass pedigree, albeit the 21-year-old Pole is a former junior Wimbledon champion.

Last year saw Swiatek lose in the fourth round to Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who is the third seed this time. Estonia's Anett Kontaveit is the second seed, with Wimbledon no longer making any allowances for grass-court prowess, as it used to when devising its seeding lists.

Britain's Emma Raducanu, like Norrie, is a Wimbledon top-10 seed for the first time. The shock US Open champion is seeded 10th, one ahead of the American teenager Coco Gauff.

The format means there will be dangerous unseeded players in the draw, notably Nick Kyrgios and two-time champion Andy Murray in the men's singles.

Serena Williams, the seven-time women's champion, is entered on a wildcard and is also unseeded. Williams, 40, has not played singles since abandoning her first-round match at Wimbledon last year due to injury, but entered this week's doubles event at Eastbourne, partnering Jabeur.

Men's top 10: 1. Novak Djokovic, 2. Rafael Nadal, 3. Casper Ruud, 4. Stefanos Tsitsipas, 5. Carlos Alcaraz, 6. Felix Auger-Aliassime, 7. Hubert Hurkacz, 8. Matteo Berrettini, 9. Cameron Norrie, 10. Jannik Sinner

Women's top 10: 1. Iga Swiatek, 2. Anett Kontaveit, 3. Ons Jabeur, 4. Paula Badosa, 5. Maria Sakkari, 6. Karolina Pliskova, 7. Danielle Collins, 8. Jessica Pegula, 9. Garbine Muguruza, 10. Emma Raducanu

Nick Kyrgios has become the first star to sign up to Naomi Osaka's sports agency. 

Australian Kyrgios was described by four-time grand slam winner Osaka as possessing an "unmatched style", while her business partner Stuart Duguid said the controversial ATP Tour player was "absolutely the icon" for young tennis fans. 

Osaka and Duguid, her long-time agent, announced the Evolve agency in May as both left IMG. 

Kyrgios, the extravagantly gifted world number 45, has won six career titles on the ATP Tour and has a world ranking high of number 13, with many considering him an unfulfilled talent. 

The 27-year-old won the Australian Open doubles title alongside countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis in January, and in singles he has reached consecutive semi-finals in his past three tournaments in Houston, Stuttgart and Halle. 

Osaka told Boardroom.TV that Kyrgios "embodies the types of athletes we want to work with". 

"He's got an unmatched style, passion and personality that is unlike any other in the sport," Osaka added. 

Duguid said: "Nick is the most talented and entertaining tennis player on the tour, bar none. His energy is infectious. And love or hate him, you definitely can't keep your eyes off him. For Gen Z and younger, he is absolutely the icon." 

While Kyrgios is planning to play at Wimbledon next week, Osaka will be absent, with the former world number one troubled by an Achilles injury. 

Andy Murray is optimistic he will be fit for Wimbledon as the two-time champion races against time to overcome an abdominal injury. 

The 35-year-old British veteran has been a long-time home-crowd favourite at the London grand slam and reached the third round last year. 

Injuries have marred Murray's recent seasons, and he has defied most expectations by remaining on tour, recently climbing back into the world's top 50 for the first time in four years. 

The Scot slipped back to 51st this week after missing the Queen's Club Championships due to his injury setback. 

He said: "The injury is healing but still not perfect. My goal is to get to the start line in a good place physically and give myself the best chance to do well." 

Murray, quoted widely by UK media on Monday, said: "There have been positives and negatives this week. Positives are I've been able to practise, but there are certain shots I've not able to practise." 

Recently reunited with coach Ivan Lendl, who guided him to Wimbledon glory in 2013 and 2016, plus the US Open title in 2012, Murray believes he can recover full fitness in time for the championships, which start next Monday. 

"I've been practising for the past three or four days and have been practising well," he said. "But unfortunately in matches you can't just not hit certain shots. In the next couple of days hopefully I will get the chance to test that, and hopefully it will be fine." 

The former world number one produced a strong early result in the grass-court season, reaching the Stuttgart Open final before falling to Matteo Berrettini. 

Murray experienced discomfort during that showpiece match in Germany, twice requiring medical timeouts as he battled the pain against the Italian.