Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon singles at age 44
At 44, Serena Williams returned to Wimbledon singles on Centre Court, drawing 20-year-old Maya Joint in her first Grand Slam singles match in nearly four years.
Serena Williams returned to Wimbledon singles at 44 after receiving a wild card into the 2026 women’s draw, and the All England Club put her first-round match against 20-year-old Maya Joint on Centre Court. The meeting was the first career match between Williams and Joint, a matchup that quickly became one of the tournament’s central attractions.
Williams had not played a singles match at Wimbledon since 2022, when she lost in the first round to Harmony Tan. Her last singles appearance came later that summer at the U.S. Open, where Ajla Tomljanović beat her in the third round in a result that at the time looked like a farewell. Nearly four years later, Williams was back in grand slam singles with a path that began with a wild card announced on Sunday, June 22, and a draw that set Joint as the opponent on Friday, June 26.
Joint arrived with her own momentum. Ranked No. 53 at the time of the draw, she was preparing for only her second Wimbledon main-draw appearance after a first-round exit a year earlier. The 20-year-old was born in Michigan, the same state where Williams was born, but represents Australia and had already built a stronger tour profile in 2025 with titles in Rabat and Eastbourne.
For Joint, the assignment carried both scale and symbolism. She called the meeting an honour and said she had dreamed of playing Williams since childhood. She also said Ajla Tomljanović gave her a pep talk before the match, a small note of connection to the player who had ended Williams’s final U.S. Open run.
Williams’s return was not limited to singles. She and Venus Williams, who turned 46 last week, also received a doubles wild card, putting the sisters back on the Grand Slam stage together in London. Wimbledon’s decision to place Serena Williams on Centre Court reflected the weight of the moment, but the test remained a simple one: how much of Williams’s legacy could still translate against a rising player with form, ranking points and no fear of the name on the other side of the net.
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