44-year-old Serena Williams will face an opponent half her age at Wimbledon

Serena Williams of the United States holds the ball during practice ahead of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo) Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon will begin with a first-round match against Australian Maya Joint, a player less than half her age, as the 44-year-old prepares for her first singles match in almost four years.Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, accepted a wild card entry into the tournament. She will also play doubles alongside her older sister Venus Williams, who turned 46 last week.The comeback began with two preliminary doubles matches and moved to the next stage on Sunday when the All England Club confirmed that Serena would compete in the singles draw.Her first opponent will be 20-year-old Maya Joint, who is ranked 53rd in the world. Joint made her debut at Wimbledon last year, where she lost in the first round to Liudmila Samson 6-3, 6-2.Williams has not played a singles match since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the 2022 US Open. At the time, she said she did not want to use the word “retiring” and instead described herself as “evolving” from tennis. In 2023, she gave birth to her second daughter.Her last appearance at Wimbledon also came in 2022, when she lost in the opening round to Harmony Tan, who was ranked 115th at the time.The top seed in the men’s singles draw is world number one and defending champion Jannik Sinner. Aryna Sabalenka is the top seed in women’s singles. Wimbledon seeding is followed by the ATP and WTA rankings.Seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic is seeded seventh. Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Sinner in the 2025 final, will miss this year’s tournament with a wrist injury. Wimbledon starts on Monday.