Serena Williams will make her highly-anticipated singles comeback at Wimbledon, facing 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia in the first round. The 44-year-old American great, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, was given a wild card entry for the tournament. This marks her first competitive singles match in nearly four years, having not played since the 2022 U.S. Open, after which she stated she was evolving away from tennis.
Returning to the Centre Court she once owned, Williams has half-jokingly attributed her return to the fact that it is summer and the kids are not in school. Her return adds a compelling new dimension to a wide-open women's draw a decade after she last won her seventh singles title.
Other notable matchups include top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who is bidding for her first title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, facing Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic. Defending champion and third seed Iga Swiatek will play American Taylor Townsend, while second seed Elena Rybakina opens against France's Lois Boisson. Swiatek and Rybakina have been drawn in the same half of the tournament.