Serena Williams Wimbledon Odds: Seven-Time Champion Handed Wildcard
Serena Williams is back at Wimbledon, and the bookmakers have wasted no time pricing up one of the most romantic outside bets in recent tennis memory.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion accepted the eighth and final women's singles wild card on Sunday, confirming her first singles appearance at a major since the 2022 US Open and her first singles match at the All England Club in four years.
Here at FreeBets.com, we've run the rule over the latest Serena Williams Wimbledon odds and what they're really telling us.
Serena Williams Wimbledon Odds
With Williams confirmed in the draw, attention turns to where she sits in the outright market, and she's a long way down the list.
| Selection | Wimbledon Odds |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 10/3 |
| Elena Rybakina | 4/1 |
| Iga Swiatek | 7/1 |
| Mirra Andreeva | 7/1 |
| Coco Gauff | 12/1 |
| Emma Raducanu | 25/1 |
| Serena Williams | 25/1 |
Odds correct as of Monday, 22 June, 5:30pm - courtesy of Paddy Power
The Wild Card
This one had been brewing.
Williams already held a doubles wild card to line up alongside sister Venus, their first Wimbledon pairing in a decade, and the All England Club had kept the final singles invite open while she made up her mind.
On Sunday, she said yes, and Wimbledon announced it with a simple "this is not a drill."
It caps a comeback that, until now, had run entirely through the doubles court.
She returned at Queen's this month with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, winning their opener before withdrawing when Mboko picked up a knee injury, then lost in the first round in Berlin alongside Karolina Muchova.
What she hasn't done is play a competitive singles match in nearly four years. She also arrives at SW19 without a grass-court singles warm-up of any kind.
An Outsider
The 25/1 is a fame price as much as a form one.
Williams is unranked and therefore unseeded, which means the draw could be brutal.
When the bracket is made on Friday, she could be handed Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek or British No. 1 Emma Raducanu in the very first round.
For context, no woman has ever won the Wimbledon singles as a wild card.
There's history on her side in one sense, with seven Wimbledon titles to her name, the joint second-most of all time behind Martina Navratilova.
But the most recent of those came back in 2016, and her last singles outing here was a three-hour first-round defeat to Harmony Tan in 2022.
Backing her to lift an eighth title at 25/1 is a heart bet, not a head one.
Can Williams Win a Match?
The smarter market won't open until the draw is out.
Match-specific prices, like to win her opening match or how far she goes, depend entirely on who she draws, and bookmakers won't price them up until Friday.
That's the moment to look for genuine value rather than the eye-catching title quote.
It's worth remembering what's on the table even at this level.
At 44 years and 276 days, Williams will be the second-oldest woman to play the Wimbledon singles in the Open Era, behind only Navratilova.
Navratilova also won a first-round match here aged 47, so a Williams victory wouldn't be unprecedented, but on current evidence, a winnable draw would be everything.
Greg Rusedski summed up the mood neatly, calling it exciting news for tennis while warning that nobody has any idea what to expect from a player who hasn't had a single competitive tune-up.
The return hasn't been universally welcomed.
Some have questioned handing a wild card to a player who hasn't won a match at the All England Club in years.
Andy Murray, who partnered her in mixed doubles here in 2019, isn't surprised at all, recalling that she told him she missed the game "every single day."
That, in the end, is what the 25/1 is really about. Nobody is backing Serena Williams to win Wimbledon and expect a payout.
They're backing one last shot at a sport she never quite let go of.
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