As the 2025 Wimbledon Championships prepare to kick off Monday, one of the greatest tennis players in history is preparing to step back onto the iconic grass courts of the All England Club for her first singles match in nearly four years. Serena Williams, the 42-year-old seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, secured a wild-card entry to the prestigious Grand Slam, drawing an opponent less than half her age for the opening round: 20-year-old Australian rising star Maya Joint. The comeback will not stop at singles for Williams, either; she will also pair with her older sister Venus, who celebrated her 46th birthday just last week, for the doubles draw.
Williams’ gradual return to competitive tennis began with two low-stakes doubles warmup matches, but the comeback gained mainstream attention Sunday when the All England Club formally confirmed her wildcard singles entry. Joint, currently ranked 53rd in the WTA singles rankings, is no stranger to the Wimbledon big stage: she made her debut at the tournament last year, though she fell in the opening round to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Williams has not competed in a top-level singles match since a third-round exit against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 U.S. Open. In the emotional post-match press conference following that defeat, Williams declined to frame the moment as a retirement, instead saying she was “evolving” away from professional tennis to focus on other parts of her life. She welcomed her second daughter in 2023, and has made only limited appearances on tour in the years since.
Williams’ last trip to Wimbledon came in 2022, when she suffered a surprise opening-round loss to then-world No. 115 Harmony Tan. Beyond Williams’ historic comeback, this year’s tournament carries other notable storylines: Italian star Jannik Sinner, the defending men’s singles champion, enters the draw as the world No. 1 and top men’s seed, while Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka claims the top seed in the women’s draw. Wimbledon follows standard ATP and WTA ranking protocols to determine its seedings.
One of the tournament’s most decorated active players, seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, is seeded seventh this year after a season of mixed results. Fans will be missing one of the top contenders, however: two-time former champion Carlos Alcaraz, who fell to Sinner in last year’s 2024 Wimbledon final, has been forced to withdraw from the 2025 tournament due to a lingering wrist injury.