Serena Williams' path and other Wimbledon draw takeaways

Nine different women's singles champions have won Wimbledon and hoisted the Venus Rosewater Dish in the last nine years, and this year's field is wide open.

After Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva won the first major of her career at the 2026 French Open, a tournament filled with shocking upsets and a Cinderella run earlier this month, the tennis season shifts from clay to grass for the third major. And there's no clear favorite heading into the tournament, which begins Monday, June 29.

The last woman to win back-to-back titles at Wimbledon was American Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.

Williams is making her return to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the first time since 2022, playing both singles and doubles, alongside sister Venus Williams, as a wildcard entry.

William's singles path became more clear after the main draw was released on Friday, June 26. Here's her first-round opponent, plus our main takeaways:

Serena Williams' draw for Wimbledon return

Twenty-three time major champion Serena Williams will face Maya Joint of Australia in the first-round of the 2026 Wimbledon tournament. This will mark the first meeting between Williams, 44, and Joint, 20.

Williams last played at Wimbledon in 2022, where she suffered a first-round loss to No. 113 seed Harmony Tan. She won the last of her seven Wimbledon titles in 2016, the same year she and sister Venus also won the last of their six doubles events at the tournament.

Joint made her main-draw debut at Wimbledon last year and was defeated in the first round by No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova.

Williams and Joint are featured in the quarter of the draw that includes reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, who opens the tournament with a tricky first-round matchup against Taylor Townsend. This will mark the first meeting between No. 3 seed Swiatek and Townsend.

Should Williams advance past Joint, she’ll face either No. 29 seed Alexandra Eala or Renata Zarazua in the second round. Williams' third-round opponent could be either Swiatek, Townsend, Tereza Valentova or Karolina Pliskova, while Jasmine Paolini, Maria Sakkari or No. 24 seed Clara Tauson could await Williams in the fourth round.

Can Jannik Sinner defend his Wimbledon title?

On the men's side of the draw, after Carlos Alcaraz announced he would miss Wimbledon due to injury, defending champion Jannik Sinner looked like the clear frontrunner. But after the French Open, where Sinner was upset in the second round, anything could happen.

Sinner will open his title defense against Serbian Miomir Kecmanović. He'll meet the winner of Nuno Borges of Portugal and Tristan Boyer of the U.S. in the second round if he advances, with No. 31 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru likely waiting in the third round. Sinner could meet No. 23 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain or fellow Italian Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.

If the chalk holds, Sinner would clash with No. 8 seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals and No. 7 Novak Djokovic in the semis.

Djokovic will open the tournament against China's Wu Yibing. Djokovic could have a tough second-round matchup against either Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas or France's Hugo Gaston, if he advances.

Meanwhile, American Taylor Fritz will face Jack Draper of Great Britain in the first round. Grab your popcorn.

Coco Gauff looks to correct course

Two-time major champion Coco Gauff fell out of the top five in the WTA singles rankings for the first time since September 2023 after her French Open title defense ended with a third-round upset earlier this month. Gauff will look to go on a deep run to improve her standing, but she had the least success in her career at Wimbledon compared to any other major.

Gauff has only made it as far as the fourth round at Wimbledon, marking the only major where she hasn't made a semifinal appearance. She was ousted in the first round in straight sets last year, but the main draw has given Gauff a gift. She could cruise into the fourth round if the chalk holds.

No. 7 seed Gauff will face Tamara Korpatsch of Germany in the first round, with a potential second-round matchup against either Solana Sierra of Argentina or Anna Bondár of Hungary.

If she advances to the third round, the highest-ranked opponent she could face is the No. 28 seed, fellow American Ann Li, against whom Gauff is 3-0. The biggest challenge in the fourth round would be No. 11 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland or No. 19 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.

Gauff could meet No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. Pegula owns the head-to-head 5-3, but they split the grass matchups, 1-1.

Will an American woman break through?

An American woman hasn't been the last one standing at the All England Lawn Tennis Club since Serena Williams in 2016.

The U.S. has a strong contingent to change that, including No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, No. 5 seed Amanda Anisimova, No. 7 seed Coco Gauff, No. 19 seed Iva Jovic, No. 25 seed Emma Navarro and No. 26 seed Madison Keys.

Pegula has had a great start to her grass season, advancing as far as the Berlin Tennis Open final in the leadup to Wimbledon. She'll face Darja Vidmanova of Czechia in the first round and is on a collision course with fellow American Jovic in the fourth round. Jovic will face Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romanian in the first-round.

Pegula owns a 2-0 head-to-head record against Jovic, although neither of those wins came on grass.

Anisimova will look to bounce back from getting double-bageled in the 2025 Wimbledon final by Iga Swiatek with a first-round matchup against Lina Gjorcheska of Macedonia. Anisimova's path could see her face fellow Americans in back-to-back rounds with a possible second-round matchup against Sofia Kenin and a third-round matchup against Madison Keys.

Navarro is entering the tournament with momentum after advancing to the first WTA grass court final of her career at the Nottingham Open earlier this month. The following week, she defeated Swiatek at the Bad Homburg Open to reach the quarterfinals. Navarro has a tough first-round matchup in Paula Badosa of Spain. If the chalk holds, she could meet No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk in the third round and No. 8 seed Elina Svitolina in the fourth.

Wimbledon prize pool

Wimbledon offers an $84.5 million prize pool, an increase of 20% compared to 2025. The women's and men's singles champion will earn $4.75 million each. Here is a breakdown of the pool and how it will be divided:

Singles

First round: $105,625

Second round: $166,360

Third round: $244,255

Fourth round: $396,100

Quarterfinals: $633,750

Semifinals: $1.19 million

Finalist: $2.38 million

Champion: $4.75 million

Doubles

First round: $23,765

Second round: $38,290

Third round: $63,375

Quarterfinals: $125,430

Semifinals: $250,860

Finalist: $501,715

Champion: $1.003 million

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

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