Serena Williams will face Australia’s Maja Joint at Wimbledon in her long-awaited return to singles competition after four years of retirement, a match between two players born nearly 25 years apart.

Joint, a talented 20-year-old who won Eastbourne last year, has struggled badly with her form this year, compiling a 3-15 record in 2026. The winner of their first round match could face the in-form Filipino 25th seed Alexandra Eala.

A meeting with the third seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek awaits in round three, with the Pole opening her title defence against Taylor Townsend. They have been drawn in the bottom half of the draw, which is headed by Elena Rybakina.

Williams has not competed in singles since she officially retired from professional tennis at the US Open in 2022. There had been ample speculation surrounding her comeback since December when the 44-year-old reappeared in the drug testing pool. Williams first returned in doubles at Queen’s earlier this month, before the Championships announced at the eleventh hour on Sunday that she had taken the final wildcard into the women’s singles draw.

Williams has also received a women’s doubles wildcard with her sister, Venus, a tournament they have won six times in doubles. She is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion and a 23-time grand slam singles champion.

Emma Raducanu, meanwhile, has again been dealt a tough draw at Wimbledon with the 30th seed projected to face the world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round for a second consecutive year. Raducanu, who is managing an injury niggle in the build up to the Championships, will start against Antonia Ruzic. However, she faces a potential second-round match against the former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, the highest-ranked unseeded player.

Sabalenka, the top seed, will open her tournament against Teodora Kostovic and the fourth seed Jessica Pegula has been drawn in her half.