Serena Williams Returns to Wimbledon, Faces Australian Opponent
Serena Williams is set to face Maya Joint of Australia in the first round of the 2026 Wimbledon tournament, marking her return to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the first time since 2022.
The 23-time major champion will look to improve her standing, having last played at Wimbledon in 2022, where she suffered a first-round loss to No. 113 seed Harmony Tan.
Serena Williams, 44, will face a young opponent in Joint, 20, who made her main-draw debut at Wimbledon last year.
The pathway to the women's singles final became more clear after the main draw was released on Friday, June 26, with Williams seeking to win her eighth Wimbledon title.
The last woman to win back-to-back titles at Wimbledon was Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.
Could this be the year an American woman breaks through at Wimbledon in over a decade, with a strong contingent including No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, No. 5 seed Amanda Anisimova, and No. 7 seed Coco Gauff?
Pegula had a great start to her grass season, advancing as far as the Berlin Tennis Open final in the lead-up to Wimbledon.
The tournament begins on Monday, June 29, with Serena Williams playing both the singles and women's doubles event alongside sister Venus Williams as a wildcard entry.
Two-time major champion Coco Gauff fell out of the Top 5 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time since September 2023 after her French Open title defense ended with a third-round upset earlier this month.
Gauff will face Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the first round, seeking to go on a deep run at Wimbledon to improve her standing.
Serena Williams won the last of her seven Wimbledon titles in 2016, the same year she and sister Venus also won the last of their six doubles event at the tournament.
The Americans have a strong contingent to change the drought, including No. 19 seed Iva Jovic, No. 25 Emma Navarro, and No. 26 seed Madison Keys.
Anisimova will look to bounce back from getting double-bageled in the 2025 Wimbledon final by Iga Swiatek with a first-round matchup against Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia.