TENNIS: Serena Williams to make Wimbledon return

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams will make her return to the tournament on Tuesday, as she takes on Maya Joint in the first round on the Centre Court at the All England Club.

Williams, winner of 23 majors, last appeared in Wimbledon in 2022, where she lost in the first round. She announced her retirement that year but is back at the age of 44 after returning to competitive tennis this month.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek will kick off her campaign on Centre Court earlier in the day, while men's and women's second seeds Alexander Zverev and Elena Rybakina will be in action on Court Number One.

The schedule for the second day of the main draw is as follows:

WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON TUESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)

CENTRE COURT (Play begins at 1230 GMT)

Taylor Townsend (U.S.) v 3-Iga Swiatek

6-Taylor Fritz (U.S.) v Jack Draper (Britain)

Serena Williams (U.S.) v Maya Joint (Australia)

COURT NUMBER ONE (Play begins at 1200 GMT)

Alexander Blockx (Belgium) v 2-Alexander Zverev (Germany)

Lois Boisson (France) v 2-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)

Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) v Matteo Berrettini (Italy)

COURT NUMBER TWO (Play begins at 1000 GMT)

6-Amanda Anisimova (U.S.) v Lina Gjorcheska (North Macedonia)

Otto Virtanen (Finland) v 4-Ben Shelton (U.S.)

8-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v Daria Snigur (Ukraine)

Mariano Navone (Argentina) v 9-Flavio Cobolli (Italy)

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)