Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Photo credit: Jamie Squire/Getty

Serena Williams remains the last woman to successfully defend Wimbledon.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion is a favorite among bettors to shock the world and raise the Rosewater Dish for the eighth time in her Wimbledon return.

Bettors are backing 44-year-old Serena big time in her Wimbledon return a decade after she defeated good friend Angelique Kerber to capture her seventh Wimbledon crown in 2016.

Despite the fact the former world No. 1 has not played a Tour-level singles match since bowing to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open, Serena Williams is already the 2026 people’s champion among Wimbledon gamblers.

Serena Williams has generated more than two times the outright winner bets of any other player in the Wimbledon women’s field, according to Hard Rock Bet’s data based on the 24-hour window after The Championships announced her singles wild card.

How strongly are bettors backing Serena?

The mother of two daughters, who has lost her last two Wimbledon matches in the first round, has also attracted more than two times the total betting handle versus every other competitor, Hard Rock Bet gambling data shows.

“Despite being priced at 30/1 (+3000), early Hard Rock Bet data shows Serena is dominating betting interest across the field,” Hard Rock Bet reports.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, bidding for her maiden grass-court championship, remains the Wimbledon favorite at 17/5, followed by 2022 champion and reigning AO champion Elena Rybakina at 6/1, Mirra Andreeva 7/1, reigning champion Iga Swiatek 8/1, Coco Gauff 13/1 and 2025 finalist Amanda Anisimova at 14/1.

Williams and 19-year-old partner Victoria Mboko defeated third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 in their Queen’s Club opening match earlier this month.

Three years, nine months and six days after her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in her last pro match at the 2022 US Open, Serena returned before a completely packed Andy Murray Arena and, perhaps surprisingly, looked a lot like the Serena Williams we all recall.

“I mean, I think I was nervous, but I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t really think about being nervous,” Williams told the media in London. “I just thought about having fun, which I did today. I just
thought about… that’s it.

“So I didn’t really have time. I got nervous right before the match, like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go.”