Serena Williams was drawn to play against France’s Harmony Tan in the first round of Wimbledon on Friday. She returned to single action a year later.
Men’s champion Novak Djokovic aims to win his seventh title with South Korea’s Kwon Soon Woo, who is 75th in the world.
The initial focus of the All England Club was on Williams, the 23rd Grand Slam Singles Champion. Williams has fallen to No. 1,204 in the world rankings and has not been seeded in tournaments starting on Monday.
The 40-year-old, who participated in a double tournament in Eastbourne this week, hasn’t played singles because she was injured in the first round at Wimbledon 12 months ago.
The 24-year-old Tan is ranked 113th in the world.
Top seed Iga Sifion, who won the French Open earlier this month, will launch a campaign against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.
Poland’s Swiertech, 21, has won 35 consecutive games leading to Wimbledon.
Williams’ preparations for Wimbledon were hit after doubles partner Ons Jabeur withdrew from the Eastbourne International Championship on Thursday due to a knee injury.
The American won the end of her seven Wimbledon singles titles in 2016, but reached the finals in 2018 and 2019 after returning from childbirth.
Wimbledon is widely regarded as Williams’ best chance of winning the 24th Grand Slam singles crown, comparable to Margaret Court’s record-breaking record.
The final title of her Grand Slam singles was held at the 2017 Australian Open.
After the doubles match on Wednesday, Williams said, “I feel good. I feel as good as I can after taking such a long break.”
