June 26 (UPI) — Tennis icon Serena Williams will face Maya Joint in her first Grand Slam singles match in four years, the Wimbledon 2026 draw revealed Friday.
Main-draw play for the third Grand Slam tournament of the season will be held Monday through July 12 in London. Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, will make her return Tuesday at the All England Club.
The full draws for Wimbledon 2026 can be seen here. The tournament will air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Men’s and women’s singles champions will receive $4.7 million apiece.
Williams, 44, remains unranked and is a betting underdog against the 20-year-old Australian, whom she has never faced. Joint, the No. 53 player in the WTA rankings, has never advanced past the first round at Wimbledon.
In addition to her 23-0 edge in Grand Slam titles, Williams also dwarfs Joint in overall singles titles 73-2 and prize money — $94.8 million to $1.8 million.
Williams hasn’t advanced past the first round of Wimbledon since 2019, when she reached the final for the second consecutive year.
The winner of Tuesday’s meeting will face No. 30 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines or No. 76 Renata Zarazua of Mexico in the second round. The winner of that match could find themselves in a battle with No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the third round. Swiatek will face No. 81 Taylor Townsend of the United States in her first match. The winner of that opener will meet No. 74 Karolina Pliskova or fellow Czech Tereza Valentova (No. 61) in the second round.
Whoever escapes that gauntlet could meet No. 14 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the fourth round for a trip to the quarterfinals. Ukrainians Elina Svitolina (No. 8) and Marta Kostyuk (No. 13) are the highest-ranked players they could face in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, No. 10 Linda Noskova of Czechia and No. 16 Diana Shnaider of Russia are among the top players they could meet in the semifinals.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who has yet to advance past the Wimbledon semifinals, is favored to win this summer’s grass-court women’s crown. Rybakina, who won the 2026 Australian Open, Swiatek, the defending champion, 2026 French Open winner Mirra Andreeva (No. 5) of Russia and No. 7 Coco Gauff of the United States are among the other expected contenders.
Sabalenka will take on No. 184 Teodora Kostovic of Serbia in her Wimbledon opener. No. 15 Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 23 Leylah Fernandez of Canada are among the top players the Belarusian could meet in the fourth round. Andreeva and No. 11 Karolina Muchova of Czechia are the top players Sabalenka could meet in the quarterfinals.
Gauff, who could face Sabalenka in the semifinals, will start her run against No. 79 Tamara Korpatsch of Germany. No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland is the top player Gauff could face in the fourth round. She could face fellow American Jessica Pegula (No. 4) in the quarterfinals if both players win their first four matches.
Men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy is heavily favored to repeat at Wimbledon. Part of that equation was formulated based on the absence of his rival, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who will miss his second consecutive major due to a wrist injury.
Sinner will start his title defense against No. 51 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia. Fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic (No. 8), 2026 French Open winner Alexander Zverev (No. 3) of Germany and Americans Ben Shelton (No. 5) and Taylor Fritz (No. 7) are among the other men’s favorites.
No. 9 DaniIl Medvedev of Russia, No. 12 Casper Ruud of Norway and No. 24 Tommy Paul of the United States are among the top players Sinner could meet in the quarterfinals. No. 13 Andrey Rublev of Russia is the highest-ranked player Djokovic could meet in the fourth round.
No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada is the highest-ranked player Djokovic could meet in the quarterfinals.
Fritz could take on fellow American Frances Tiafoe (No. 19) in the fourth round if both players win their first three matches. The winner of that potential meeting could face Zverev if the quarterfinals.
Wimbledon 2026
All times EDT
Monday
First-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
Tuesday
First-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
Wednesday
Second-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
Thursday
Second-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
July 3
Third-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
July 4
Third-round coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
July 5
Round of 16 coverage from 6 a.m. to noon on ESPN and noon to 5 p.m. on ABC
July 6
Round of 16 coverage from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN2 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on ESPN
July 7
Quarterfinal coverage from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN2
July 8
Quarterfinal coverage from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN2
July 9
Women’s semifinal coverage from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN
July 10
Men’s semifinal coverage from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on ESPN
July 11
Men’s singles final at 11 a.m. on ESPN; Encore at 3 p.m. on ABC
July 12
Men’s singles final at 11 a.m. on ESPN; Encore at 3 p.m. on ABC
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