Serena Williams steps onto Centre Court at Wimbledon today for her first singles match in nearly four years, facing 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint in the first round of the 2026 Championships. Williams, now 44, accepted a wildcard entry into the ladies’ singles draw. Her match is the second on Centre Court and is expected to begin around 11:20 a.m. ET on June 30, depending on the duration of the first match.

Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion with 23 Grand Slam titles overall. She needs two more singles wins at Wimbledon to reach 100 career victories at the tournament. She last played a Grand Slam singles match at the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round.

Why She Decided to Return

“I thought, ‘Not every day Wimbledon holds a wildcard for someone,'” Williams said ahead of her opening match. “I had never thought I’d come back.” The comeback follows her retirement in August 2022, when she described the decision as “evolving away from tennis” rather than a definitive end — language that left the door open from the start.

She returns alongside a doubles campaign with her sister Venus. The Williams sisters will play against Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round of ladies’ doubles on July 2-3. For now, the singles match against Joint is the main event, and the attention on it has been significant from the moment the wildcard was granted.

Who Is Maya Joint

Joint is ranked outside the top 100 but earned her place in the Wimbledon draw through qualifying form on grass earlier this season. She’s 20 years old — Williams was already a two-time Grand Slam champion at that age. The experience gap is obvious, but Joint arrives with the match sharpness that Williams hasn’t had for four years.

Playing on Centre Court against one of the sport’s most famous athletes is a different kind of pressure, but it cuts both ways. Williams will carry the weight of expectation and the rust of a long absence. Joint carries youth and has nothing to lose.

How to Watch and What Comes Next

Coverage in the US is on ESPN and ESPN2, also available to stream on ESPN+. In the UK, the match will be on BBC. The draw still includes Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff — a reminder of how steep the challenge gets from the second round onward if Williams advances.

Win or lose today, Williams’ return to Wimbledon is one of the year’s major sporting moments. Four years is a long time in professional tennis, and Centre Court is the hardest possible place to find out how much game you still have.

If she gets through Joint, the second round will tell us quickly whether Serena Williams is here for a run or just for the occasion.