Serena Williams to Face Maya Joint in Wimbledon Singles Comeback

American superstar Serena Williams will make her highly-anticipated singles comeback at Wimbledon against Australian world number 53 Maya Joint in the first round.

Williams, who is a seven-time women's champion at the All England Club, has been given a wildcard to restart her singles career at the age of 44, having not played competitively since the US Open in 2022.

Joint, 20, lost in the first round on her Wimbledon main-draw debut last year and has won just one of her past 14 matches.

British number one Emma Raducanu, seeded 30th, is set to start against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic, but there are concerns over her fitness after she did not practise on Thursday because of a shin injury.

Raducanu could face top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round - just as she did at Wimbledon last year.

In the men's draw, Britain's Jack Draper has been handed a tough first-round match against American sixth seed Taylor Fritz.

Draper is continuing his return after a catalogue of injury problems - with Andy Murray now in his coaching team - and has reached the Eastbourne semi-finals in his first tournament since April.

During the 25-minute women's draw ceremony at the All England Club, the wait for the appearance of one name - and its placing - brought a sense of anticipation like none of the other 127.

Williams popped up midway through the draw, in an intriguing section which also features Swiatek.

Ever since 23-time singles Grand Slam champion Williams finally confirmed she was going to return to singles action, there was deep intrigue about what sort of challenge she would face.

As a wildcard entry, Williams could have been drawn against one of the world's leading players - such as top seed Aryna Sabalenka or Swiatek - or a lower-ranked player outside of the top 100 who had to fight their way through qualifying.

Instead, facing 20-year-old Joint is a match which looks eminently winnable.

Williams is used to being the centre of attention wherever she goes and it will be no exception when she returns on Tuesday - presumably on Centre Court.

If Williams comes through that match she could face 29th seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines next, with the possibility of playing Swiatek in the third round.

Williams has played two doubles matches since beginning her comeback earlier this month and will play alongside her older sister Venus, who is aged 46, in the Wimbledon event which they have won six times.

As ever, there is a strong British contingent in the singles draws - helped by a sizeable number of wildcards handed out by the All England Club.

Overall it feels like a tough draw for the home players, with Draper in particular left to curse his luck.

In what will only be his second tournament back from injury, the 24-year-old left-hander would have been hoping for a gentler start than Fritz, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year.

Draper has dropped outside of the top 100 but takes his place in the draw because he was still ranked inside it when the entry list closed six weeks before the Championships.

Cameron Norrie, seeded 26th in the men's singles, is the highest-ranked Briton and leads the six players who have earned direct entry through their ranking.

Norrie, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, starts against American qualifier Michael Zheng and could face Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round.

Raducanu is the only other home seed after climbing into the top 32 with her run to the Queen's final earlier this month, but could face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko - who plays Harriet Dart first - in the second round, with the spectre of Sabalenka looming large after that.

Katie Boulter, Francesca Jones and Jan Choinski also secured their spots through ranking.

Twelve Britons have been given wildcards - six men and six women - but one was not made available for Davis Cup stalwart Dan Evans, who is set to retire after the tournament.

Instead, he was forced to go through qualifying but lost in the second round.

Three players - Ollie Tarvet, Billy Harris and Max Basing - did qualify after winning three matches this week. It is the most home players to come through qualifying since 1999.