Serena Williams will face Australia’s Maya Joint in the Wimbledon first round after being handed a wildcard, marking her return to singles at the All England Club following a four-year absence.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion stepped away from the sport in 2022 but has eased back into competition this month, featuring in doubles at the Queen’s Club Championships and the Berlin Open.
Now 44, Williams returns to a tournament she has won seven times, setting up a potentially difficult path through the draw.
Should she overcome world No. 53 Joint, she could meet 29th seed Alexandra Eala in the second round.
A further win would open the door to a possible third-round clash with defending champion Iga Swiatek, who begins her title defense against America’s Taylor Townsend.
Williams, who has been practicing at Wimbledon for the past week, last played a singles match nearly four years ago at the U.S. Open in what had appeared to be her farewell to the sport.
She said at the time that she was “evolving away” from tennis.
Just prior to the Wimbledon warmup event at Queen’s Club this year, Williams announced her return, a move motivated by a desire to play in front of her two young daughters.
She has not played at Wimbledon since losing to Harmony Tan in the first round in 2022.
Her last Grand Slam match was a third-round defeat at the US Open against Ajla Tomljanovic that appeared to close out her career at the time.
It remains to be seen whether Williams can handle the physical demands of singles competition after such a long absence.
She looked solid in her two doubles matches at Queen’s Club and Berlin, winning one in London with Victoria Mboko and losing her opening match with Karolina Muchova in Germany.
But Williams has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open, and her last major final came in a defeat at the 2019 US Open.
Williams is also playing doubles at Wimbledon with her sister Venus.
The pair have won the All England Club doubles title six times together.
In the men’s singles draw on Friday, defending champion Jannik Sinner was drawn against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.
The Italian world No. 1 has not played since suffering a shock defeat against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the French Open second round in May.
Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is aiming to win Wimbledon for the second time, with his main rival Carlos Alcaraz absent as he continues to recover from a wrist injury.
Novak Djokovic begins his latest bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title against China’s Wu Yibing.
The 39-year-old Serb has won Wimbledon seven times but has not triumphed there since 2022.
Djokovic earned his most recent Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, with his last two major finals ending in defeat to Alcaraz at Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open this year.
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev, who won the French Open in June, faces Alexander Blockx in the first round.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, 41, takes on Matteo Berrettini in what could be his final Wimbledon appearance.
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka begins her bid for a first Wimbledon title against Serbia’s Teodora Kostovic.
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is set to start against Antonia Ruzic, but fitness doubts surround the British 30th seed.
Raducanu did not attend her practice session on Thursday after reportedly being seen wearing a protective boot.
