Williams Returns to Wimbledon With Title to Defend and Ground to Make Up

The last time Williams played at Wimbledon, she was on top of her power game: No. 1 in the world rankings and No. 1 on the All England Club lawns, too, after sweeping to the 2010 title without dropping a set.

A year later, she finds herself trying to reclaim lost ground and form after two surgeries on her right foot, blood clots in her lungs and a hematoma that required emergency treatment in Los Angeles in February. After 11 months away from the game, she returned in Eastbourne this month and lost in the second round in three sets to Vera Zvonareva, the Russian she defeated in last year’s Wimbledon final.