Serena Williams Wears Diamond Nails at Wimbledon 2026 Because She Is the Forever Tennis Queen

A fitting manicure for her return to the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Serena Williams is back, baby. Even fair-weather tennis fans are eager to watch as the GOAT of women's tennis returns to the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London. On June 30, day two of the tournament, the 23-time Grand Slam winner stepped back onto center court to battle Australian Maya Joint in round one of Wimbledon, her adorable family in tow. And although the 44-year-old lost in straight sets, her diamond manicure most definitely reminded us all that Williams is still the queen of tennis.

It's been four long years since she set foot on the hallowed grass court, and I, for one, missed her impeccable match-day glam. Her nails were designed to look as if she had real-life diamonds placed on her nail beds, which were filed into a medium rounded shape. A metallic silver base supported the glittering gemstones, with a mix of clear stones and canary-yellow on her first four fingers and a hammered chrome texture on her thumbs.

a close up of a black woman holding a pink tennis racket with a silver diamond manicure

Of course the rest of Serena's ensemble was perfectly coordinated as well.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It didn't take much zooming in to notice that William's gemstone nails had a bit of extra sparkle, courtesy of her diamond engagement ring. The massive oval cut stone glittered and shined just as much as her statement manicure, and honestly, if I wore a diamond that large, I wouldn't take it off for a single game of tennis either. Paired with her crisp tennis whites from Nike (Wimbledon has an all-white dress code), the focus could remain on her diamond nails for the entirety of the match.

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a close up of a black woman in a white jacket wearing a diamond engagement ring and sparkly nails

The perfect diamond pairing.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Although I would have loved to see Williams make it to the second round of the tournament—more chances for her to dazzle us with her beauty choices—at the end of the day, the champ proved she still has all of the star-power (and more) of her younger competitors. Here's hoping she'll continue to make some appearances at other tennis competitions this year—the US Open perhaps? Until then, I'll be adding a few Serena-inspired nail gems to my summer manicures all season-long.

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Hannah Baxter
Hannah Baxter
Beauty Director

Hannah Baxter is the Beauty Director at Marie Claire. She has previously held roles at The Zoe Report, Coveteur, and Bust Magazine, covering beauty, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle. She authors the Marie Claire newsletter Face Forward. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, Allure, The Cut, Elle, InStyle, Glamour, Air Mail, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Byrdie, Nylon and more.

She is also the founder of Anxiety Beer, a weekly newsletter about the intersection of culture and mental health. In her spare time you can catch her reading too many overdue library books, thrifting, or hanging with her hairless cat, Norman. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok @hannahbaxward.