Serena Williams will return to singles at Wimbledon against Australian world number 53 Maya Joint in the first round after receiving a wildcard. Emma Raducanu, seeded 30th, begins against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic amid fitness concerns after she did not practise
For Serena Williams, Wimbledon 2026 now has a first-round opponent—and a comeback timetable she can’t ignore.
The American superstar. handed a wildcard to restart her singles career at the age of 44. will face Australia’s Maya Joint in the first round. Joint arrives as world number 53. Williams is a seven-time women’s champion at the All England Club. and this match is the start of her highly anticipated return after she has not played competitively since the US Open in 2022.
Joint is 20 years old and comes in with recent form that doesn’t flatter her. She lost in the first round on her Wimbledon main-draw debut last year and has won just one of her past 14 matches. Williams, meanwhile, is stepping back into singles tennis with Wimbledon’s spotlight already trained on her.
That spotlight is shared by Britain’s Emma Raducanu. seeded 30th. whose opening match is set against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic. Raducanu’s path comes with a familiar worry this week: concerns over her fitness after she did not practise on Thursday because of a shin injury. Those missed reps add a thin layer of uncertainty to what should be her first serve-and-volley problem to solve.
Raducanu’s draw also carries echoes of last year. She could meet top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round—just as she did at Wimbledon last year.
The men’s draw has its own early statement match. Jack Draper. continuing his comeback after a catalogue of injury problems. has been handed a tough first-round tie against American sixth seed Taylor Fritz. Draper has reached the Eastbourne semi-finals in his first tournament since April. and Andy Murray is now in his coaching team—another sign that this return is being managed with care. not hope alone.
Wimbledon 2026 draw Serena Williams Maya Joint Emma Raducanu Antonia Ruzic Aryna Sabalenka Jack Draper Taylor Fritz Andy Murray coaching shin injury