Serena Williams’ Wimbledon singles comeback begins on Tuesday against a player less than half her age.

The 44-year-old seven-time winner of the grass-court Grand Slam faces Australia’s Maya Joint, 20, in the first round.

It will be the first singles match for Williams since a third-round loss at the U.S. Open on Sept. 2, 2022.

The longtime World No. 1 received a wild-card entry at the All England Club, where she claimed the singles titles in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016.

Williams also is competing in doubles with older sister Venus Williams, 46, a partnership that produced six titles at Wimbledon in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2016.

Joint was born in Michigan in 2006. Currently ranked No. 53, she won her first two WTA Tour titles in 2025 at Morocco and Eastbourne.

Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion in singles, began her comeback with doubles matches earlier this month at the HSBC Championships in London and the Berlin Tennis Open.

If she defeats Joint, she could face No. 29 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the second round and defending champion and No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland in the third round.

The top four seeds in the women’s draw announced Friday are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Swiatek and No. 4 Jessica Pegula, the top-seeded American.

On the men’s side are No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, the defending champion, No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and No. 4 Ben Shelton, the highest-seeded American.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, seeking his 25th Grand Slam title, is the No. 7 seed. Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is not in the field due to a wrist injury.

–Field Level Media