Serena Williams returns as Wimbledon draw reshuffles expectations

Serena Williams’ – Serena Williams is set to return to Wimbledon for the first time since 2022, starting against Maya Joint, while the women’s draw also positions Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and other Americans for a rare push. On the men’s side, Jannik Sinner’s path has been al

Serena Williams is back at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and the Wimbledon draw made one thing clear fast: the tournament doesn’t need a single clear favorite to feel unstable.

Williams will return for the first time since 2022. entering both singles and doubles as a wildcard alongside her sister. Venus Williams. The last time Williams won back-to-back Wimbledon titles was in 2015 and 2016. When the main draw was released on Friday. June 26. her first-round opponent—Maya Joint—also became the first concrete hurdle in a field that many players and fans will treat as genuinely wide open.

Williams’ Wimbledon singles path begins with Maya Joint of Australia. The 23-time major champion, 44, will face the 20-year-old in what will be their first meeting. Williams last played Wimbledon in 2022, where she suffered a first-round loss to No. 113 seed Harmony Tan. She won the last of her seven Wimbledon titles in 2016. the same year she and Venus also won the last of their six doubles events at the tournament.

In the quarter of the draw that includes reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek. Williams’ potential route quickly runs into a familiar kind of pressure: Swiatek opens the tournament against Taylor Townsend. That matchup marks the first meeting between No. 3 seed Swiatek and Townsend. If Williams advances past Joint, she’ll face either No. 29 seed Alexandra Eala or Renata Zarazua in the second round. Her third-round opponent could be Swiatek. Townsend. Tereza Valentova. or Karolina Pliskova. while the fourth round could bring Jasmine Paolini. Maria Sakkari. or No. 24 seed Clara Tauson.

The draw’s knock-on effect shows up in the momentum players are trying to build right now. especially for those chasing a rare moment on grass. Nine different women’s singles champions have won Wimbledon and hoisted the Venus Rosewater Dish in the last nine years. and after the 2026 French Open—where Mirra Andreeva won her first major and a tournament filled with shocking upsets and a Cinderella run earlier this month—attention has shifted from clay to grass for the third major. Wimbledon begins Monday, June 29, with no single obvious name owning the storyline.

Coco Gauff is trying to correct course

Two-time major champion Coco Gauff is entering Wimbledon with ranking pressure and a slightly imperfect history at this event. She fell out of the Top 5 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time since September 2023 after her French Open title defense ended with a third-round upset earlier this month. At Wimbledon. her record has been the least successful of any major: she has made it only as far as the fourth round. meaning it’s the only major where she hasn’t made a semifinal appearance.

Gauff was ousted in the first round in straight sets last year. but the draw offers a path that looks easier on paper. No. 7 seed Gauff will face Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the first round. with a possible second-round matchup against either Solana Sierra of Argentina or Anna Bondár of Hungary. If she reaches the third round, the highest-ranked opponent she could meet is No. 28 seed Ann Li, and Gauff leads that head-to-head 3-0.

Her toughest obstacle in the fourth round would come from either No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland or No. 19 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia. In the quarterfinals, Gauff could run into No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, with Pegula owning the head-to-head 5-3; they have split their grass meetings 1-1.

American women want the last step

An American hasn’t been the last woman standing at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2016. This year’s field gives the U.S. a stacked roster that could turn that drought into a headline—if the draw holds.

No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, No. 5 seed Amanda Anisimova, No. 7 seed Coco Gauff, No. 19 seed Iva Jovic, No. 25 seed Emma Navarro, and No. 26 seed Madison Keys are all in the mix.

Pegula arrives after a strong start to her grass season. reaching the final of the Berlin Tennis Open ahead of Wimbledon. Her first-round opponent is Darja Vidmanova of Czechia. and the draw places her in a fourth-round collision course with fellow American Jovic. Jovic will play Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania in the first round. Pegula leads Jovic 2-0 in head-to-head results, but neither win came on grass.

Anisimova is aiming to bounce back from a painful marker in her recent Wimbledon history: she was double-bageled in the 2025 Wimbledon final by Iga Swiatek. In this tournament, she opens against Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia. Anisimova’s path could include back-to-back American matchups. with a possible second-round matchup against Sofia Kenin and a third-round matchup against Madison Keys.

Navarro comes in with momentum after reaching the first WTA grass court final of her career at the Nottingham Open earlier this month. The following week, she beat Swiatek at the Bad Homburg Open to reach the quarterfinals. Her first-round test is against Paula Badosa of Spain. If the chalk holds, Navarro could face No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk in the third round and No. 8 seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth.

A men’s draw shaken by late reality

Wimbledon isn’t only a women’s story this year. Carlos Alcaraz announced he would miss Wimbledon due to injury, and that absence put more spotlight on defending champion Jannik Sinner—at least until the French Open reminded everyone that momentum doesn’t travel cleanly between surfaces.

Sinner was upset in the second round of the French Open. so his status as a “clear frontrunner” didn’t survive contact with reality. He opens his title defense against Serbian Miomir Kecmanović. If Sinner advances, he’ll face the winner of Nuno Borges of Portugal and Tristan Boyer of the U.S. in the second round. No. 31 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru is likely in the third round.

Sinner’s fourth-round opponent could be No. 23 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain or fellow Italian Luciano Darderi. If the chalk holds, the quarterfinal matchup would bring No. 8 seed Daniil Medvedev and the semis would set Djokovic in front of him as No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic starts against China’s Wu Yibing. In the second round, Djokovic’s potential opponent is drawn from either Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas or France’s Hugo Gaston. On the American side, Taylor Fritz will face Jack Draper of Great Britain in the first round.

The draw’s most stubborn message is timing—Williams returning after years away from Wimbledon’s spotlight. and Sinner carrying the memory of a French Open upset into grass. With Wimbledon beginning Monday. June 29. and a field built to deliver at least one surprise. the question for players and fans may not be who’s favored.

It may be who can stay standing when the bracket stops behaving like certainty.

Serena Williams Wimbledon 2026 Maya Joint Coco Gauff Jessica Pegula Jannik Sinner Novak Djokovic WTA draw ATP draw