Serena Williams is also expected to make an appearance at the Berlin Open this year.
Williams is making a comeback to the WTA Tour this year, having not played a professional match since the 2022 US Open.
The 44-year-old will be making her return on grass at the Queen’s Club Championships, where Williams will be playing doubles with Victoria Mboko.
Williams will not play singles at Queen’s, and now former top 10 player and Berlin Open ‘Director of Excitement’ Andrea Petkovic has confirmed if she will in the German capital.
Andrea Petkovic claims Serena Williams has only requested a doubles wildcard in Berlin
Petkovic’s role at the Berlin Open requires her to engage with players, sponsors and fans to build fresh energy into the WTA 500 tournament.
With just a couple of weeks to go until this year’s Berlin Open, Petkovic was asked about what she knew about whether Williams would be playing at her tournament this year.
How excited are you to watch Serena Williams play on the WTA Tour once again? 🐐
Petkovic confirmed that Williams had requested a doubles wildcard for the tournament, but she has not asked for one in the singles event.
The former Roland Garros semifinalist then revealed her hope for Williams to play doubles with Coco Gauff for the first time.
“Now I can say that we’ve been asked for a doubles wildcard for Serena a few weeks back and Germans are very good at keeping a secret,” Petkovic said on The Big T Podcast. “So far we haven’t heard anything about the singles, just the doubles. She doesn’t know who she is going to play with yet.”
Gauff’s former coach Brad Gilbert then asked, “Would you like to see her play with Coco at your tournament?”
Petkovic, “I would love that! I mean Coco is an amazing doubles player.”
Gilbert, “She might as well take someone who is a good doubles player.”
Petkovic added, “Exactly and you know on grass, that’s the one thing we have great players, and big players, and big stars in Berlin before, because as you know very well, the practice time on grass is very limited, because the greenkeepers need to protect the grass from being destroyed. So playing doubles is a great way to get some extra reps on the grass.”
Who would you like to see Serena Williams play doubles with if she returns?
Who is playing at the Berlin Open this year?
As Petkovic mentioned, the Berlin Open has a very strong lineup once again this year.
The WTA 500 tournament will feature nine of the top 10 WTA players, with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek the only one not to have entered the Berlin Open.
This includes world number one Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Gauff and former champion Jessica Pegula.
| Year | Berlin Open singles champion |
| 2021 | Liudmila Samsonova |
| 2022 | Ons Jabeur |
| 2023 | Petra Kvitova |
| 2024 | Jessica Pegula |
| 2025 | Marketa Vondrousova |
Williams never played the Berlin Open as a grass court tournament, but she did reach the singles final when it was a clay court tournament in 2002.
The main draw of the Berlin Open will get underway on June 15, as Williams is set to continue her doubles comeback.
