Serena Williams set for Wimbledon singles comeback against Maya Joint

Serena Williams will return to Wimbledon singles as a wild card, drawing Maya Joint in the first round and immediately facing a test that measures more than nostalgia. The 44-year-old has not played a competitive singles match since the 2022 US Open, where she reached the third round before losing in three sets to Ajla Tomljanovic.

Williams entered the 2026 ladies’ singles main draw at the committee’s discretion, a route Wimbledon has used for singles players since 1977. The Championships run from 29 June to 12 July, and Williams has said she wants her daughters, Olympia and Adira, to see her compete. That detail now sits beside a harder competitive question: how much match sharpness Williams can summon against a player who has spent the last year climbing fast.

Joint brings a current ranking of No. 53, a career-high mark of No. 28 and a profile that looks more like a live opponent than a ceremonial opening-round name. The WTA lists the Australian at 20 years old and 5ft 5in, coached by Chris Mahony. She won two singles titles in 2025 and became the highest-ranked Australian player, signs of a breakthrough that has already moved her beyond prospect status.

Her grass-court form makes the matchup more serious still. Joint beat former Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur 7-5, 6-2 in Eastbourne for her first career WTA main-draw win on grass, a result that underlined both her timing and her comfort on the surface. That kind of form gives the draw a sharper edge than a typical comeback opener and leaves Williams with little room to treat the first round as a ceremonial return.

The setting also carries Wimbledon history. Williams’ last opponent at the Championships was Harmony Tan, who told Wimbledon she hoped to qualify and maybe face Williams again. This time, it is Joint who gets the first chance to test whether Williams’s return is symbolic, serious or somewhere in between, against a player young enough to represent the modern field Williams is re-entering rather than the one she once dominated.