Serena Williams to face Maya Joint in Wimbledon first round

LONDON: Serena Williams was on Friday drawn to play Australia’s Maya Joint in the Wimbledon first round as the American legend returns to singles action after four years.

Williams retired in 2022 but the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made a sensational comeback by playing in the Queen’s Club and Berlin Open doubles earlier in June.

The 44-year-old was given a wild card entry in the Wimbledon singles – a tournament she has won seven times.

If Williams beats world number 53 Joint, who has won just one of her past 14 matches, the American could face 29th seed rising star Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the second round.

A victory in the second round would raise the possibility of a potential blockbuster third round tie against reigning champion Iga Swiatek, who starts her title defence against American Taylor Townsend.

Williams, who has been practising at Wimbledon for the past week, last played a singles match nearly four years ago at the US Open in what had appeared to be her farewell to the sport.

She said at the time she was “evolving away” from tennis.

However, just prior to the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s this year, Williams announced her stunning return, a move motivated by a desire to play in front of her two young daughters.

She has not played at Wimbledon since losing to Harmony Tan in the first round in 2022.

Her last Grand Slam match was the US Open third round defeat against Ajla Tomljanovic that seemed to have brought the curtain down on her astonishing career.

It remains to be seen if Williams can cope with the physical demands of singles competition after so long away from the sport.

She looked solid in her two doubles matches at Queen’s and Berlin, winning one in London with Victoria Mboko and losing her opening tie with Karolina Muchova in Germany.

However, Williams has not won a Grand Slam crown since the 2017 Australian Open, with her last major final appearance ending in defeat at the 2019 US Open.

Williams is also playing in the doubles at Wimbledon with her sister Venus.

The pair have won the All England Club doubles six times together.