Serena Williams will play her first competitive singles match in nearly four years when she takes Centre Court at Wimbledon for her first-round match on Tuesday.
Williams, 44, who last played singles at the 2022 U.S. Open, will face Australian Maya Joint, currently ranked No. 53 in the world.
The match is expected to go off sometime Tuesday evening in London, following the opening match featuring defending champion Iga Swiatek and then the popcorn match between No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz and Britain’s Jack Draper.
When Williams takes the court at Wimbledon, which runs June 29-July 12, it will have been over 1,400 days since she last competed in a singles match at The All-England Club.
“I mean, Serena is obviously the greatest female player of all time,” her close friend and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki said Friday on “Morning Joe.”
“She’s the toughest competitor I’ve ever played. If anyone can do it, she can…She’s serving at 120 mph, her shoulder’s feeling great, she’s moving well, she’s super fit. And I think she just realized, ‘Wow, I’m ahead of where I thought I was going to be on the schedule. And it’s going to be great to see her, I’m very excited, obviously.”
If Williams wins on Tuesday, she could face No. 29 seed Alex Eala in the second round.
If she advances to the third round, she could face defending champion and No. 3 seed Swiatek.
With a win Williams Tuesday, would become the fourth-oldest woman to win a main-draw match in the Open Era. Martina Navratilova was the oldest (47) at Wimbledon in 2004.
Williams has won Wimbledon seven times, most recently in 2016, and also lost in the final in 2018 and ’19 as she was bidding for a record-tying 24th major title.
“Serena is one of my close friends,” Wozniacki said, “so to see her back on a tennis court, not only as a tennis fan but as her friend, I’m really, really excited.”