LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams will face an opponent less than half her age when she plays 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia in the first round at Wimbledon for her first singles match in nearly four years.
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who is 44, accepted a wild-card entry to the grass-court Grand Slam, where she’ll also compete in doubles with her older sister Venus, who turned 46 last week.
It's all part of a tennis comeback that started
with two doubles warmup matches but kicked into high gear Sunday when the All England Club announced Serena would play singles.
Joint is ranked No. 53 and made her Wimbledon debut last year, losing in the first round to Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.
Williams hasn't played a singles match since a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, she said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared she was “evolving” away from tennis. Her second daughter was born in 2023.
Williams' most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to then-115th-ranked Harmony Tan.
If Williams beats Joint on Tuesday, she may face rising Filipino star Alexandra Eala, who is seeded 29th, in the second round. She could meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round.
Swiatek opens against Taylor Townsend of the U.S. 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 men's side, No. 1 Jannik Sinner will begin his Wimbledon title defense against Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court on Monday.
Novak Djokovic, a seven-time champion at the All England Club, is the No. 7 seed and will play Wu Yibing of China. Djokovic could meet third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.
Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the 2025 final, will miss this year’s tournament because of a wrist injury.
Wimbledon starts on Monday.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
