Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon will begin with a first-round match against Australia’s Maya Joint, a player less than half her age, as the 44-year-old prepares for her first singles match in almost four years.Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, accepted a wildcard entry into the tournament. She also wants to play doubles with her older sister Venus Williams, who turned 46 last week.The comeback began with two preliminary doubles matches and moved to the next stage on Sunday when the All England Club confirmed that Serena will take part in the singles draw.Her first opponent will be 20-year-old Maya Joint, who is ranked no. 53 in the world. Joint made her Wimbledon debut last year, where she lost in the first round to Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.Williams has not played a match since losing to Ajla Tomljanović in the third round of the 2022 US Open. At the time, she said she did not want to use the word “retirement” and instead described herself as “evolving” from tennis. She gave birth to her second daughter in 2023.Her last Wimbledon was also in 2022, when she lost in the first round to emerging Harmony Tan, who was ranked 115th at the time.In the men’s singles draw, world number 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner is the top seed. Aryna Sabalenka is the first seed in women’s singles. The Wimbledon holders follow the ATP and WTA rankings.Novak Djokovic, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, is seeded seventh. Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the 2025 final, will miss this year’s tournament with a wrist injury. Wimbledon starts on Monday.
