Andy Roddick Claims ‘There’s No Upside’ for Aryna Sabalenka If She Plays Serena Williams at Wimbledon

Serena Williams was awarded the wild card for singles at Wimbledon. Her opening-round match will be her first tour-level singles match since the 2022 US Open third round.

Williams, who played her first official match at the Queen’s Club Championships alongside Victoria Mboko in doubles, will also be competing in doubles at Wimbledon. She and sister Venus Williams, the winners of 14 Major doubles titles (last won at 2016 Wimbledon), have received wild cards.

Former ATP player Andy Roddick, who also played mixed doubles with Williams, backed her for her use of GLP-1 weight-loss drug, saying he would have done the exact thing had he made his comeback after retirement. Roddick also admitted that had he decided to make his return in singles, he would never have done it at Wimbledon.

Not having played a singles match in a lot of years, and saying I think dipping my toes back in is going to be at Wimbledon. I would have scheduled seven events. Imagine being in Serena’s brain where it’s like, ‘Oh no, it’s going to be Wimbledon. I’m going to be good enough. I can handle it.’ That’s levels of confidence that I didn’t have for 12 seconds of my existence.

Andy Roddick said on his Served podcast

Roddick also believes World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka wouldn’t want to face the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion in the first round of Wimbledon.

She has as much of a chance as anyone on earth of playing Sabalenka in the first round. But then if you’re Sabalenka, you play Serena, who hasn’t played in four years. She comes out and gets three or four holds. There’s no upside for Aryna Sabalenka playing Serena. This could be a heavy dose of Serena and Venus this entire week. Imagine [Michael] Jordan coming back after playing a three-on-three pickup game a couple of times.

Andy Roddick added

Williams, a seven-time champion in singles at SW19, last won this title in 2016. The last time she played a singles match was in the third round of the 2022 US Open.

Mary Joe Fernandez picks Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka as favorites for Wimbledon

Former WTA player Mary Joe Fernandez doesn’t think Iga Swiatek will be the favorite to defend her title in the grass-court Major. The Pole, who double-bageled Amanda Anisimova in last year’s Wimbledon final, hasn’t yet reached a final this year, with her last singles title being the 2025 Korea Open. Fernandez instead picked Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka as the favorites.

[Linda] Noskova, who won the [Berlin Open] tournament. [Marta] Kostyuk played really well the last few months and could do some damage. There are a lot of possibilities. Even though Rybakina and Sabalenka didn’t win a title going into Wimbledon, I still think you put them ahead of the field.

Mary Joe Fernandez said on ESPN

Sabalenka hasn’t reached a final since completing the Sunshine Double at the Miami Open. She lost the clay-court events she played before reaching the semifinals. Then at the Berlin Open, eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula defeated her in the semifinals.

Rybakina is a former Wimbledon champion, winning in 2022 by defeating Ons Jabeur. She did not win her second Major title before this year’s Australian Open, defeating Sabalenka. The Kazakh ace clinched her second title of the season at the Stuttgart Open by beating Karolina Muchova.

The Wimbledon title was Rybakina’s first and only title so far on grass. But Sabalenka has never clinched a title on the surface, though she has played two finals. In Berlin, Rybakina suffered an opening-round exit, losing to Alexandra Eala in straight sets.

Also read: Popular American Pundit Dismisses Alexander Zverev’s Wimbledon Chances Despite Recent Roland Garros Glory