LONDON (AFP) – Serena Williams returns to singles tennis at Wimbledon after a year away as Rafael Nadal begins his quest to win the third leg of a potential calendar Grand Slam.
Women’s top seed Iga Swiatek, who has won her past six tournaments, will kick off proceedings on Centre Court at 1.30pm against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.
But the main focus will be on seven-time champion Williams, who faces unseeded Harmony Tan of France in her first singles match since an injury forced her to pull out of her first-round match last year.
Williams, 40, won the last of her Wimbledon singles titles six years ago but reached the final in 2018 and 2019.
The American, who was given a wildcard for this year’s tournament, is stuck on 23 Grand Slam singles wins – agonisingly one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Doubts had been growing about whether Williams – who has slumped to 1,204th in the world after her period of inaction, would return to the sport.
But she warmed up by teaming up with Ons Jabeur in the doubles at Eastbourne last week and Wimbledon is widely considered her best chance of winning an elusive 24th Grand Slam.
Nadal is halfway to winning all four majors this year after following up his Australian Open triumph by winning his 14th French Open title.
