Venus Williams, 43, gets wild card to play singles at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Venus Williams is set to make her 24th appearance in the singles draw at Wimbledon after the 43-year-old American was given a wild-card entry on Wednesday.

Williams is a five-time Wimbledon singles champion and was a finalist at the grass-court major in 2017, two decades after her debut at the All England Club.

Ranked 697th, Williams beat 48th-ranked Camila Giorgi 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6) on Monday at the Birmingham Classic. It was her first victory over a player in the top 50 in nearly four years.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion next plays Jelena Ostapenko at the Wimbledon warm-up event.

Williams' younger sister Serena is a seven-time Wimbledon champion. Serena Williams lost in the first round at last year's tournament and soon after announced her decision to step away from tennis.

Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina and British players Heather Watson and Katie Boulter were also given wild cards for the women's draw. David Goffin, a Belgian who reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2019 and 2022, was among of the men given wild cards.

Wimbledon begins on July 3.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports