Wimbledon slammed over 'disgraceful' Serena Williams decision ahead of return

Oscar Maung-Haley Tue, June 30, 2026 at 1:00 AM UTC

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Serena Williams will face Maya Joint on Tuesday at Wimbledon (Image: Getty Images)

Serena Williams' return to Wimbledon has been slammed by Grand Slam-winning coach Calvin Betton.

On Tuesday, Williams will make her return to Wimbledon, where she is due to face off against Australia's Maya Joint. The 44-year-old, who was handed a wildcard, has not played singles professionally since the 2022 U.S. Open, with Williams admitting she was nervous ahead of her comeback at SW19.

While much of the conversation surrounding Williams has been positive, with fans excited about her comeback, Grand Slam-winning coach Betton has slammed Wimbledon's decision to allow the 23-time Grand Slam winner to return after not playing a major since 2022.

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Speaking on the Tennis Unfiltered podcast, Betton explained that he feels Williams' wildcard invitation could serve as a gateway for events to feature the likes of Jake Paul in tennis.

"I don't think you can be doing stuff like this," said Betton, who coaches ex-Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara.

"Isn't it a gateway drug to getting people like Jake Paul in there? He would put bums on seats and give tournaments some marketing reach... Where's all this leading?

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"I don't think it would be that by the way, that's me greatly exaggerating it, but what if one of the tournaments now says we would love to have Roger Federer playing and are willing to pay him millions? What if another tournament does the same with Rafael Nadal? It could get a bit silly.

"If she was coming back and saying, 'I'm having a run at this, my intention is to get back to the top of the rankings and I want to see how well I can do' then I would be much more sympathetic to it and I would even back it.

"But we're giving a wildcard to someone who's not seriously trying to compete at tennis anymore and instead it's purely for promotional reasons.

Betton reckons Williams return could lead to the likes of Jake Paul getting involved with tennis (Image: Getty)

He continued: "This is my biggest problem with it. We keep hearing that she wants to come back and win - but she doesn't want to win enough to stay around.

"I suspect this return will just be for Wimbledon, the US Open and a couple of the Masters events, that's it.

"And that's where I have a problem because this is not a serious tennis professional and we're giving them wildcards into the Wimbledon draw."

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Source: “AOL Breaking”