Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon in the first round against Australian Maya Joint, who is less than half her age, as the 44-year-old prepares for her first singles match in nearly four years.Seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Williams accepted a wild card into the tournament. She will also play doubles with her sister Venus Williams, who turned 46 last week.The comeback begins with two doubles warm-up matches, and on Sunday the All England Club confirmed that Serena will participate in the singles draw to advance to the next stage.Her first opponent will be 20-year-old Maya Joint, who is ranked 20th. Ranked 53rd in the world. United made her Wimbledon debut last year, but she lost in the first round to Lyudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.Williams has not played a singles match since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, she said she didn’t want to use the word “retirement,” describing herself as “evolving” away from tennis. In 2023, she gave birth to her second daughter.The last time she appeared at Wimbledon was in 2022, when she lost in the first round to Chen Harmony, who was ranked 115th at the time.In the men’s singles draw, world number one and defending champion Sinner is the top seed. Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed in women’s singles. Wimbledon seeding follows the ATP and WTA rankings.Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is ranked seventh. Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the 2025 finals, will miss this year with a wrist injury. Wimbledon starts on Monday.
