Serena handed a Joint opener and a Swiatek collision course on her Wimbledon return
A Joint opener, then Eala, then perhaps the defending champion: Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon with one of the draw’s toughest early paths, a third-round meeting with Iga Swiatek already looming.
Serena Williams, Wimbledon 2026 | © AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
Serena Williams will open her Wimbledon singles campaign against Maya Joint, a first-round draw that leads into one of the most demanding early paths in the women’s field and a possible third-round meeting with defending champion Iga Swiatek.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, playing at the All England Club as part of the comeback that has captivated tennis this summer, faces Joint before a potential second-round test against Alexandra Eala, the 21-year-old Filipino who reached the Berlin semi-finals this month with back-to-back top-10 wins over Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina.
Should Williams come through both, Swiatek would in all likelihood be waiting in the last 32. The Pole, seeded third, opens against Taylor Townsend and would face the winner of a Karolina Pliskova or Tereza Valentova tie before any meeting with Williams.
Projected quarter-finals
Sabalenka (1) vs. Andreeva (5)
Pegula (4) vs. Gauff (7)
Svitolina (8) vs. Swiatek (3)
Anisimova (6) vs. Rybakina (2)
At the head of the draw, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka begins against Kostovic and would not expect to meet a seed until a potential third round that could bring Emma Raducanu, Jelena Ostapenko or Antonia Ruzic. Her projected route runs through a fourth round against one of Naomi Osaka, Leylah Fernandez or Daria Kasatkina, and on to a quarter-final against fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, the pairing the seedings invite at the top of the draw.
A Sabalenka–Andreeva quarter-final is the projection that leaps off the draw: world No 1 against the reigning Roland-Garros champion. Andreeva arrives at Wimbledon having beaten qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the Paris final for her maiden Grand Slam title at 19, the youngest woman to win there since Monica Seles in 1992.
Sabalenka has never won Wimbledon, and the early kindness of her section gives way quickly to a gauntlet of contenders thereafter.
Swiatek, chasing back-to-back titles, has a quarter mapped towards Svitolina, the eighth seed, who opens against Daria Snigur and could meet Donna Vekic in the third round before any last-eight collision with the champion.
The lower half of the draw sets up the two American-led quarters. Fourth seed Jessica Pegula, beaten by Linda Noskova in Sunday’s Berlin final, is projected to meet seventh seed Coco Gauff in the last eight, while sixth seed Amanda Anisimova and second seed Rybakina are lined up on a collision course of their own. Rybakina, the 2022 champion at the All England Club, opens against Lois Boisson and would expect to reach the second week before facing a seed of Anisimova’s calibre.
