Serena Williams is playing Wimbledon in her first Grand Slam tournament since 2022.
Williams, a 44-year-old with a modern era record 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, lost her Wimbledon first-round singles match to Australian Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 — her first singles match since the 2022 U.S. Open.
She is scheduled to play in the women’s doubles tournament with older sister Venus starting Thursday.
Williams said her comeback is “really about my kids getting to see me play.” Daughters Olympia and Adira are 8 and 2 years old, respectively.
In a pre-tournament interview, Williams told ESPN that she doesn’t have a definition of success.
“As of now, I’m not nervous,” she said. “My expectation here is just to take it easy and to be calm and to have fun, which is something I historically have never done.”
How to watch Serena Williams at 2026 Wimbledon (TV/ stream info)
Wimbledon airs live on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ on the ESPN app from June 29-July 12.
Serena Williams 2026 Wimbledon schedule
After losing in singles, Williams opens the women’s doubles tournament with older sister Venus on Saturday.
They’re scheduled to play Camila Osorio of Colombia and Solana Sierra of Argentina in the first round.
How many times has Serena Williams won Wimbledon?
Williams owns seven Wimbledon singles titles — 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016. Only Martina Navratilova won more in the modern era (nine).
In her last Wimbledon appearance in 2022, Williams lost in the first round to Harmony Tan of France.
Two months after that, Williams played what was thought to be her last career match at the U.S. Open. She said before that tournament that she was “evolving away” from tennis rather than announcing a retirement.
How old is Serena Williams?
Williams is 44 years old.
She became the second-oldest woman to play a Wimbledon main-draw singles match after Martina Navratilova (47, 2004).
How many Grand Slam singles titles does Serena Williams have?
Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most for a woman in the Open Era (or professional era) that began in 1968.
Australian Margaret Court won 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Thirteen of those were before the Open Era, including seven at the Australian Championships (now the Australian Open) against fields mostly made up of fellow Australians.
How old was Serena Williams when she won her first Grand Slam?
Williams was 17 years old when she won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 1999 U.S. Open. Williams went on to win every Grand Slam at least three times.
Her most recent major title came at the 2017 Australian Open -- at age 35 -- while she was in the early stages of pregnancy with Olympia. Williams broke her own record as the oldest Grand Slam women’s singles champion in the Open Era.
