Venus Williams, Elina Svitolina receive Birmingham wild cards

Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina have received wild cards for the Rothesay Classic Birmingham, a WTA 250 event on grass which begins on June 19.

Former World No.1 Williams, 42, is returning to action on her beloved grass courts after being sidelined since January by a hamstring injury. She will also compete in 's-Hertogenbosch the week prior to Birmingham. The seven-time Grand Slam champion is currently ranked No.701 and will make her second appearance in Birmingham, having previously reached the quarterfinals in 2019.

Former World No.3 Svitolina gave birth to daughter Skaï last October and returned from maternity leave two months ago. The Ukrainian has already won a Hologic WTA Tour title, in Strasbourg last week, lifting her ranking to No.192. She has extended her winning streak to six matches at Roland Garros, where she has so far reached the third round. Svitolina's career-best Birmingham showing was also a quarterfinal run in 2018.

Two former Roland Garros titlists will also compete in Birmingham, Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko. Other notable names on the main-draw entry list include defending champion Beatriz Haddad Maia, rising talents Linda Noskova and Alycia Parks, and former Wimbledon semifinalist Barbora Strycova. Meanwhile, Marketa Vondrousova and Hsieh Su-Wei are both on the qualifying entry list.

Birmingham has been a fixture of the WTA calendar since 1982; previous multiple champions include Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova.