London
Serena Williams will face an opponent lower than half her age when she performs 20-year-old Maya Joint in the first spherical at Wimbledon for her first singles match in almost 4 years.
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who’s 44, accepted a wild-card entry to the grass-court grand slam, the place she’ll additionally compete in doubles along with her older sister Venus, who turned 46 final week.
It’s all a part of a tennis comeback that began with two doubles warmup matches however kicked into excessive gear Sunday when the All England Club introduced Serena would play singles. Brackets had been set in Friday’s draw.
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Joint was born in Michigan – as was Williams – however represents Australia via her father. She is ranked No. 53 and made her Wimbledon debut final 12 months, dropping in the first spherical to Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.
Joint received the grass-court Eastbourne Open final 12 months for certainly one of her two WTA tour-level singles titles.
Williams hasn’t performed a singles match since a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic on the 2022 US Open. At the time, she stated she didn’t wish to use the phrase “retiring” and as an alternative declared she was “evolving” away from tennis. Her second daughter was born in 2023.
Williams’ most up-to-date look at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she misplaced in the opening spherical to then-One hundred and fifteenth-ranked Harmony Tan.
If Williams beats Joint on Tuesday, she could face rising Filipino star Alexandra Eala, who’s seeded twenty ninth, in the second spherical. She might meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third spherical.
Swiatek opens in opposition to Taylor Townsend of the US on Centre Court on Tuesday.
In a projected quarterfinals by seedings, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka would meet French Open champion Mirra Andreeva; No. 2 Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, would face 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimova; Swiatek, the No. 3 seed, would play Elina Svitolina; and No. 4 Jessica Pegula would meet Coco Gauff.
On the boys’s aspect, No. 1 Jannik Sinner will start his Wimbledon title protection in opposition to Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court on Monday.
Novak Djokovic, a seven-time champion on the All England Club, is the No. 7 seed and can play Wu Yibing of China. Djokovic might meet third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.
Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who misplaced to Sinner in the 2025 last, will miss this 12 months’s event due to a wrist harm.
Wimbledon begins on Monday.