LONDON (AP) 鈥� Serena Williams had to talk herself into accepting Wimbledon’s offer .
The All England club was holding one last wild card entry and the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion 鈥� who had already announced she’d play doubles with her sister Venus 鈥� had a decision to make.
鈥淚 thought I should really take this opportunity. Who knows if I鈥檒l ever make it here again. This could be it,鈥� the 44-year-old Williams said Sunday at a press conference.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 wrong with me, Serena? What are you thinking? Are you nuts? Like you really should do this,鈥欌�� she added. 鈥淧eople live to be an athlete. I have this great opportunity to showcase what I do, what I do best, I suppose. Yeah, I think ultimately I was like that is pretty cool, so I should do it.鈥�
Williams鈥� first match at the grass-court Grand Slam since 2022 will take place on Centre Court on Tuesday evening when she faces 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia as part of her evolving .
Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.
Her most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis 鈥� she described it as 鈥渆volving鈥� away 鈥� after to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows.
After earlier accepting a wild card in doubles, Williams described the process of making her decision for singles.
鈥淪o I think it was on, I had until Monday to decide. I think it was like Sunday. I just wasn鈥檛 sure up until then,鈥� she said. 鈥淗onestly, I鈥檓 still not even sure, but we鈥檒l see.鈥�
Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion but said Sunday that 鈥渋n general my expectations are definitely different for the first time in my career.鈥�
Defending champion Iga Swiatek opens play on Centre Court on Tuesday (1:30 p.m. local time), in keeping with tradition, against Taylor Townsend. That’s to be followed by Taylor Fritz vs. home favorite Jack Draper 鈥� in what is one of the most intriguing men’s first-round matchups.
And then Williams-Joint.
鈥淵eah, actually I know her. I鈥檝e watched some of her videos,鈥� said Williams, who paused for a moment before adding, 鈥淚鈥檓 sure she knows my game.鈥�
Michigan-born Joint slipped from No. 53 to No. 87 in the WTA rankings updated on Sunday.
Serena gets nervous?
Even GOATs get butterflies, apparently.
鈥淚 expect to be nervous. I was also nervous every single match I ever played in my life,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚 think that showed the passion and the love and the care, that I cared about my job, whether it was the first round or the second round or the finals. I鈥檝e always had some nerves. But then I just dust 鈥檈m off, then I move on.鈥�
Williams has a Wimbledon singles first-round record of 19-2 鈥� the losses coming in her last two appearances: and 2022.
The most-recent of her seven singles titles at the All England Club was 2016. She reached the 2018 final 鈥� 10 months after giving birth 鈥� and lost to Angelique Kerber. A year later, she lost in the final to Simona Halep.
Williams officially returned to tennis earlier this month in a doubles match with 19-year-old Canadian at the Queen鈥檚 Club grass-court tournament. She then played 鈥� losing in the first round.
What can we expect from Serena?
Newly crowned French Open champion Mirra Andreeva probably spoke for lots of top players when she mentioned on Saturday that she was relieved to see the draw didn’t match her up with Williams in the first round.
鈥淩espectfully,鈥� Williams said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not surprising simply because I think anyone that鈥檚 done 鈥� it鈥檚 like the big four coming back, I mean, Novak (Djokovic) is still here, but no one would want to play them in their first round. I can鈥檛 think of anyone that would want to do that.鈥�
She added: 鈥淣o one knows how my game may or may not have evolved, what to expect, don鈥檛 know much. Those type of opponents are always very difficult to play.鈥�
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