'It's an honour': Australian drawn to face Serena in Wimbledon opener

Serena Williams made her return to tennis earlier this month. Returning superstar Serena Williams will face Australia's Maya Joint in the first round at Wimbledon in her grand slam comeback. Australia's number one men's player Alex de Minaur will play Roman Andres Burruchaga, the son of football champion Jorge Burruchaga. The first rounds of the men's and ladies' singles at Wimbledon will begin on Monday, June 29. Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian star Maya Joint is ready to grasp the chance of a sporting lifetime by defeating the great Serena Williams on Centre Court in the first match of the seven-time champion's Wimbledon comeback. The quiet but steely Queensland-based youngster found herself the focus of attention at the All England Club on Friday after being drawn as the one to play the 23-time grand slam winner in her return to singles action after nearly four years. The 20-year-old Joint was born, like Williams, in Michigan, before more recently switching her allegiance to her dad's home country of Australia, but said it was a "dream" and an "honour" to now be the first to play the 44-year-old legend in her singles comeback. It was in September, 2022, that Williams last took to the singles court, beaten at the US Open by Ajla Tomljanovic, and Joint's not ruling out the prospect that after Tuesday's match that it could be another Australian who will be able to make the boast of being the last player to beat Serena Williams. Maya Joint says it will be an honour to play Serena Williams at Wimbledon. (Getty Images: Minas Panagiotakis) "I talked to Ajla this morning, and she gave me a little pep talk, which was nice. She told me I can beat anyone, and Serena will be just as nervous, probably, coming back in her first match at Wimbledon," Joint said. "It's an honour. I always dreamed about playing Serena Williams, and if you told me 10 years ago that I'd be playing her first round at Wimbledon, that's just crazy. I have so much respect for her, she was one of my idols growing up. I never thought I'd get the opportunity to play against her. "When I saw she'd got a wild card, there was always a part of me that wanted to experience playing against her. "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." Though Joint is on a wretched run after her dazzling breakthrough 2025 season, and will drop from Australian number one this week to number four by the time she plays Williams on Tuesday, the youngster who won two titles as a teenage novice last year cuts a quietly confident figure. "I think any match is winnable," said Joint, who has lost 13 of her last 14 contests. "Serena is still an amazing player, so I'm sure it's going to be a difficult match, but I also think that I have a chance to win." Joint had to laugh when someone suggested to her all the support would be behind Williams. "I've played Madison Keys on Arthur Ashe (Stadium in New York), so I've experienced something similar before. I hope there's a couple of people in the crowd for me." Alex de Minaur has been handed a decent opportunity for another deep run at a grand slam after landing a World Cup-themed opening match at Wimbledon. Fifth seed de Minaur, who has now reached seven slam quarter-finals but is still striving to go at least one step better for the first time, looks to have been given a reasonably kindly route towards his aim following Friday's draw. On the morning he learned the Socceroos had made it into the last-32 in their World Cup quest in North America, the Aussie number one found he will launch his eighth Wimbledon main draw appearance with a match against Roman Andres Burruchaga, son of an Argentine soccer World Cup winner. Alex de Minaur is set up for a decent deep run into Wimbledon. (Getty Images: Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar) Jorge Burruchaga was a key figure in the Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina side who lifted the 1986 trophy in Mexico, scoring the winner against West Germany at the Azteca Stadium. His 24-year-old boy, now number 66 in the world, is a debutant at Wimbledon and still not the most comfortable on the grass after losing his only match this season in Eastbourne. If de Minaur wins, he would then likely play Adrian Mannarino in the second round, the French veteran who is tricky on the grass but who was outplayed by the Sydneysider in 's-Hertogenbosch recently. One early danger could come in the third round should de Minaur meet Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, who defeated the Australian in the s'-Hertogenbosch final, before the difficulty ramps up with a potential fourth-round clash against French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli. Big-hitting American fourth seed Ben Shelton is scheduled to be his quarter-final opponent, with French Open champion Alexander Zverev a semifinal adversary. On the other side of the draw, champion Jannik Sinner, de Minaur's nemesis, could end up with a semifinal against seven-time winn

'It's an honour': Australian drawn to face Serena in Wimbledon opener

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'It's an honour': Australian drawn to face Serena in Wimbledon opener

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