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Serena Williams will face 20-year-old Australian player Maya Joint in the opening round of the Wimbledon Championships.
The 44-year-old seven-time Wimbledon champion accepted a wild-card entry for her highly anticipated return to singles play, marking her first singles match in nearly four years.
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The first-round matchup sets up a generational clash between the 23-time Grand Slam winner and the young Australian, who was born six years after Williams claimed her first major title
Joint has won just one match since a first round loss in the Australian Open earlier this year when she was seeded 30th. Her ranking has since tumbled, and she goes into Tuesday’s match with Williams ranked 87th in the world, although Joint says she is over a back injury that has hampered her this year.
“I never thought I’d get the opportunity to play against her because she stopped playing when I first got on the tour,” Joint said on Friday following the singles’ draw.
“So when I saw that she got a wild card to get back into singles, I think there was always a part of me that wanted to experience playing against here. It’s not something that a lot of people have been able to say they’ve done, so I’m just very excited for the opportunity.
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“She’s just a super aggressive player. I love the way that she would hit the ball so hard. I tried to do that when I was younger but yeah, I think it was just amazing to see how dominant she was throughout her whole career.”
Tuesday’s match between Joint and Williams is expected to feature on one of Wimbledon’s main courts. A first round loss still comes with an £80,000 ($153,000) payday.
