Serena Williams says SW19 return is motivated by tearful 2021 exit

Serena Williams says a big motivating factor behind her Wimbledon return was not wanting last year’s tearful injury retirement to be her final SW19 memory.

Besides the regular norms, the tennis world often refers to the British Grand Slam as SW19. The London SW postcode area is a group of postcode districts covering part of southwest London.

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Seven-time champion Williams is set to make her singles comeback at the Grand Slam event, which starts on Monday.

The 40-year-old American tore her hamstring when she slipped during her first-round match almost a year ago.

“It was a lot of motivation, to be honest,” said Williams, who will play France’s Harmony Tan on Tuesday.

Asked about her expectations at Wimbledon, the world number 1,204 said: “I have high goals, but also I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Williams made her return to the WTA Tour at Eastbourne earlier this week, playing in the doubles alongside Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.

She has not played singles since waving a tearful farewell to Centre Court last year after slipping in the match against Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich.