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Serena Williams has been drawn against Australia’s Maya Joint in the Wimbledon first round as the 44-year-old makes a high-profile return to singles tennis after a four-year absence.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, retired in 2022 after what was widely seen as the closing chapter of one of tennis’s most decorated careers. However, she has now been handed a wild card into the Wimbledon singles draw, a tournament she has won seven times, signalling a dramatic comeback to the sport’s biggest stage.
Her return follows a brief competitive reappearance in June, when she featured in doubles events at Queen’s Club and the Berlin Open. Speaking prior to that comeback, Williams said she was “evolving away” from tennis, but her decision to return has since been linked to her desire to compete in front of her two young daughters.
In the opening round, Williams faces Joint, currently ranked world number 53, who arrives in poor form after losing 13 of her last 14 matches. Should Williams progress, she could meet 29th seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the second round, setting up a potential clash with rising expectations early in the tournament.
A deeper run could produce one of Wimbledon’s standout storylines, with a possible third-round encounter against reigning champion Iga Swiatek, who begins her title defence against American Taylor Townsend.
Williams has been training at the All England Club for the past week, but questions remain over her match fitness after such a long layoff from singles competition. Her last appearance in the format came at the 2022 US Open, while her final Grand Slam match ended in defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic, a result that was widely interpreted as a farewell.
Since then, she has not contested a singles match at Wimbledon, where she last played in 2022, losing in the opening round to Harmony Tan.
Although she showed glimpses of rhythm in recent doubles outings—winning one match alongside Victoria Mboko and losing another with Karolina Muchova, she has yet to demonstrate whether she can sustain the physical demands of elite singles tennis.
Williams has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2017 Australian Open, with her most recent final appearance coming in 2019. She will also compete in the Wimbledon doubles alongside her sister Venus Williams, with the pair having claimed six doubles titles at the All England Club.
