Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Serena and Venus Williams sisters to play opening doubles match at Wimbledon on Saturday

Sport

Serena and Venus Williams sisters to play opening doubles match at Wimbledon on Saturday
Sport

Sport

Serena and Venus Williams sisters to play opening doubles match at Wimbledon on Saturday

2026-07-04 02:33 Last Updated At:02:41

LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams appears to have recovered enough from a knee issue in time to play doubles at Wimbledon.

Serena, 44, and Venus Williams, 46, are scheduled to play their opening-round doubles match Saturday after organizers pushed it back to give Serena time to deal with a knee problem she sustained during her loss in singles.

The Williams sisters' match against Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra is the only first-round doubles match yet to be played at the grass-court tournament. Organizers put it on Saturday's schedule but have yet to assign a court for the match, saying only that it will be played after 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT).

That indicates that it will be played on one of the show courts, after the singles matches there are finished.

Serena lost to Maya Joint in the first round of the singles tournament after returning to the All England Club for the first time in four years and tweaked her right knee during that match.

Tournament director Jamie Baker acknowledged the match was pushed back because the All England Club wanted to give Serena “as much time” as possible to recover for the doubles.

“We want her to play if she ... possibly can,” Baker said earlier Friday.

Venus played in the mixed doubles tournament on Friday together with Kevin Krawietz, losing in straight sets to Tereza Mihalikova and Lloyd Glasspool.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Venus Williams of the United States returns a ball during the first round mixed doubles match with her partner Kevin Krawietz of Germany against Lloyd Glasspool of Britain and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

Venus Williams of the United States returns a ball during the first round mixed doubles match with her partner Kevin Krawietz of Germany against Lloyd Glasspool of Britain and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

Venus Williams of the United States plays a return during the first round mixed doubles match with her partner Kevin Krawietz of Germany against Lloyd Glasspool of Britain and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

Venus Williams of the United States plays a return during the first round mixed doubles match with her partner Kevin Krawietz of Germany against Lloyd Glasspool of Britain and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 3, 2026.(AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

Serena Williams of the United States greets the audience as she leaves after losing to Maya Joint of Australia in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

Serena Williams of the United States greets the audience as she leaves after losing to Maya Joint of Australia in their first round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Maja Smiejkowska)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California state Sen. Aisha Wahab will serve out the rest of former Rep. Eric Swalwell's term after securing victory Thursday in a special election.

Swalwell, a Democrat who was running for California governor, ended his campaign and resigned from Congress in April after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment, which he denies. Wahab will represent the state’s 14th Congressional District, which covers parts of Alameda County on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, through Swalwell's term ending in January.

She will be the first Afghan American to serve in Congress. The progressive Democrat defeated Bay Area Rapid Transit Director Melissa Hernandez even after a swell of spending by outside groups opposing Wahab in the race's final stretch. She said her victory shows her district “cannot be bought.”

“I will fight for this district that raised me,” Wahab said in a statement. "From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”

The conclusion of the race to replace Swalwell comes as criminal investigations continue into the sexual assault allegations he faces. Over the weekend, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and later searched his home in Washington, D.C., according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Swalwell’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.

Wahab became the first Afghan American elected to public office in the U.S. when she won a Hayward City Council seat in 2018.

She has championed housing affordability and access in her time in the Legislature and throughout her campaign. She also wrote a bill in 2023 to ban caste-based discrimination, which garnered national attention. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it, saying such discrimination is already outlawed by civil rights protections.

Wahab and Hernandez will face off again in a separate November election determining who will serve the next full two-year term.

Wahab won the June primary decisively, but she faced aggressive efforts to boost her rival ahead of the general. Groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, poured millions into supporting Hernandez, and thousands into opposing Wahab.

Hernandez, a moderate Democrat, said she was proud to put up a competitive fight after Wahab’s success in the primary.

“I’ve been a fighter my whole life, and when I promised the residents of CA-14 I would fight for them, I never gave up,” she said in a statement.

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed from Washington.

FYI - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

FYI - Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., talks with reporters after holding a town hall meeting in Sacramento, Calif., April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 14th district, speaks during a primary election night event on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Recommended Articles