Wimbledon 2021: Andy Murray, Venus Williams receive wildcard entries

Multiple-time champions Andy Murray and Venus Williams were awarded a wildcard entry on Wednesday to play this year's Wimbledon.

While Murray has won the Championships twice (2013 and 2016), Venus has triumphed in the women's singles category at the All England Club on five occasions (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2008).

On Tuesday, Britain's Murray made a moving and winning return in his first singles match on grass for three years as he reached the second round at Queen's ATP 500 tournament in London. He defeated France's Benoit Paire 6-3 6-2 in his first singles match since March after a groin injury.

"Look, I love playing tennis," a teary-eyed Murray said, his voice breaking.

"Sorry," said Murray, as he continued to control his emotions as the crowd cheered for the local hero.

"Obviously, competing is why you put in all the hard work. The last few years, I've not gone to do that as much as I would have liked so, yeah [it's] just great that I'm out here and able to compete again," added Murray in the post-match interview.

"The body is old, but I did quite well today in terms of my movement. It's my first match on grass in three years and I've only played three or four practice sets in the build-up to this, so I didn't know exactly how I was going to play or feel - but I think for a first match it was good," added the former World No. 1 ATP player.

The 34-year-old Englishman will next take on Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the Round of 16 at Queen's on Thursday.

The 2020 edition of the Wimbledon was cancelled because of the COVID-19, marking the first such instance for the first time in more than 100 years. Murray had featured in the tournament a year before that where he played in the doubles and mixed doubles events while on the comeback from hip surgery.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams featured in the opening two Grand Slams of the calendar year. He reached the second round of the Australian Open, where she was hammered in straight sets – 6-1, 6-0. Unseeded Venus Williams once again failed to win a single set as she crashed out of the first round of the Roland Garros after losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova.

She recently dropped out of the top 100 of the WTA rankings. She is currently No. 102, which is her lowest ranking since 2011.