Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2022 Venus Williams of the U.S. is pictured in the stands with her mother ahead of the first round match between Serena Williams of the U.S. and France's Harmony Tan REUTERS/Matthew Childs
LONDON (Reuters) - Five-times Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams will return to action for the first time in almost a year after the American and Briton Jamie Murray were on Wednesday granted a wildcard for the mixed doubles at the All England Club.
The 42-year-old has not played on the Tour since a first-round defeat at the Chicago Open last year due to a niggling leg injury.
Murray is a twice mixed doubles winner at Wimbledon - partnering Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and Martina Hingis in 2017 - while Williams reached the final with Bob Bryan in 2006.
The pair will take on Alicja Rosolska and Michael Venus in the first round.
This is not the first time the two tennis families have come together, with Serena Williams and Andy Murray combining in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2019 and reaching the third round.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
