.png?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Pope gets ball from final out from 2005 White Sox World Series game that he attended – UK Times")
Serena Williams will play her first match at Wimbledon since 2022 against world No 53 Maya Joint.
The 44-year-old has been handed an intriguing test against last year’s Eastbourne champion, with the Australian struggling for consistent form this season.
Williams is gearing up to play her first singles match in nearly four years, having previously played just two doubles matches in her only competitive action since returning at Queen’s Club at the start of the month.
Waiting for her in the third round, should Williams bypass Joint and potential second-round opponent and No 29 seed Alexandra Eala, is defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu faces Antonia Ruzic, ranked 60th in the world, with the British No 1 squeaking in with a seeded berth as the 30th seed in SW19.
Raducanu will be seeking revenge as the duo have met only once before, when the former US Open champion was beaten by the Croatian – playing as a lucky loser, in the first round of this year’s Dubai Open.
Serena Williams will play Australian star Maya Joint in her stunning return to SW19 next week
But as with last year, waiting for Raducanu in the third round is titanic World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka and Raducanu battled across two tight sets on Centre Court, with the former gaining the upper hand in a nail-biting first-set tiebreak.
Raducanu enjoyed a strong start to her grass season as she reached the final at Queen’s before falling to an imperious Donna Vekic, but picked up a niggle during that week which has caused considerable concern.
The 23-year-old is believed to have been sighted wearing an orthopaedic boot on her right foot, and did not practice as scheduled on Thursday afternoon.
Former British No1 Jack Draper – who is in action at Eastbourne on Friday afternoon for his semi-final against Ugo Humbert – will play 6th seed Taylor Fritz, in just his second tournament since April’s Barcelona Open.
The 24-year-old has endured an injury-stricken final year but by his own admission is feeling confident in his body on the south coast, so should face the ultimate test against a player enormously comfortable on grass
Draper has a checkered history at Wimbledon, having never made it past the second round – and with a former Wimbledon semi-finalist in the first round, he may have a challenging time of bettering his record.
World No 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner will meet Miomir Kecmanovic in his first round, with Novak Djokovic a potentially fearsome semi-final opponent.
The 39-year-old remains hungry for an elusive 25th Grand Slam title, with many believing Wimbledon represents the strongest chance for this year’s Australian Open finalist, who defeated Sinner in the semi-finals Down Under.
The man Djokovic lost to in Melbourne – Carlos Alcaraz – still absent from the draw as he recovers from a wrist injury.
On the women’s side of the draw, last year’s winner Swiatek will begin her trophy defence against Taylor Townsend, and Sabalenka will face first-time qualifier Teodora Kostovic.
While British women in the draw managed to largely escape a first-round meeting with dangerous seeded players, save for teenager Mika Stojsavljevic who will play 11th seed Belinda Bencic, their male counterparts weren’t as lucky.
As well as Draper’s spine-tingling meeting with Fritz, Felix Gill will play rising star Rafael Jodar (23rd seed), Toby Samuel will play French Open semi-finalist Jakub Mensik, and Oliver Tarvet – who qualified for the second year in a row on Thursday – will play 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech.
