Serena returns, champs collide & more: Five Wimbledon first-round matches to watch

There's always extra intrigue when the Wimbledon draw is unveiled. This year is no different, with a wide-open title race, a highly-anticipated return and no shortage of compelling first-round storylines.

The opening round features several fascinating matchups, from established WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz stars facing rising challengers to former champions and dangerous floaters landing in difficult sections of the draw.

These are the five first-round matches we're circling as must-watch contests.

[WC] Serena Williams vs. Maya Joint 

Let's start with the obvious. Serena Williams' return to Grand Slam singles headlines the opening round. The seven-time Wimbledon champion will play her first singles match in nearly four years when she takes on 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint.

Williams showed encouraging signs during her two doubles matches. While some rust was inevitable, flashes of her trademark power were evident and her serve remains a major weapon. The bigger unknowns are how she moves over a best-of-three-set singles match and how her body holds up if the contest stretches deep into a third set.

On paper, the draw is a manageable one. Joint is 3-15 this season and has won just one match since January, defeating World No. 121 Katarzyna Kawa at a WTA 125 event on clay earlier this month. She has also played just one previous Wimbledon main draw, falling in the first round to Liudmila Samsonova last year.

Whatever happens, this will be one of the most closely watched matches of the tournament's opening week.

[3] Iga Swiatek vs. Taylor Townsend

Defending a Grand Slam title is never straightforward, and the opening round offers little time to settle into the tournament.

Though Iga Swiatek cruised to the Wimbledon title last year, she begins her title defense with limited match play on grass. Her only appearance during the grass-court swing ended in a straight-sets loss to Emma Navarro in Bad Homburg.

Her opener won't be straightforward. Swiatek faces American Taylor Townsend, an experienced competitor with the all-court game to make opponents uncomfortable and a history of producing memorable upsets at majors. Wimbledon, however, has not been Townsend's most successful Slam. In eight previous appearances, she has never advanced beyond the second round.

Swiatek will be the clear favorite in this one, and remains one of the contenders to win the tournament, but Townsend won't be intimidated by the moment. This will be their first career meeting.  

[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [Q] Teodora Kostovic

After Teodora Kostovic qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw, she was asked who she wanted to play. She didn't hesitate to answer.

"I want to face Sabalenka!" she said with the enthusiasm of a teenager.

Indeed, the 18-year-old got her wish. She will play four-time Grand Slam champion and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in her first-round match, and she enters that match with a brimming confidence.

"Let's see if she can deal with my power," the Serbian added, raising her eyebrow. "Of course I can beat her. I can beat anybody when I'm in the zone."

No. 184 in the PIF WTA Rankings, the former junior No. 4 won three qualifying matches to get here, but it will be quite a different test against one of the best players of her generation.

Sabalenka, for her part, is a three-time semifinalist at Wimbledon, and she's become pretty much automatic in opening matches of tournaments. Her last defeat in an opening match was in February of 2025.

[23] Emma Navarro vs. Paula Badosa

It's not often that former Top 10 players square off in the first round, so this is a treat. Both players have fallen on hard times the past few months, but there's been some light in the tunnel of late. After falling to No. 39, Emma Navarro is back up to No. 24 after winning the title in Strasbourg, on clay, and reaching the final in Nottingham. She's 6-3 on the grass this year, the most notable of which was a three-set win over Swiatek in Bad Homburg.

At No. 140, Badosa has more work to do to climb out of her hole, but she picked up the win of her year earlier this month in Berlin, coming from 6-1 down to defeat Coco Gauff in three sets. 

Badosa has reached the fourth round of Wimbledon three times, and Navarro is a former quarterfinalist.

Badosa has won two of their three career meetings, including a straight-sets win in their only match on grass.

Tatjana Maria vs. Yulia Putintseva

Tatjana Maria's game comes to life on the grass, with her exceptional net play and signature slice. The 38-year-old veteran is a former Wimbledon semifinalist, and she won the biggest title of her career last year on the grass, at Queen's Club. She enters Wimbledon playing her best tennis of the season, with a 10-4 record -- including an upset of Jasmine Paolini -- and a run to the Eastbourne final.

Yulia Putintseva, also a veteran and one of the most entertaining personalities on tour (see: her win over Zeynep Sonmez at the Australian Open in January), is no slouch on grass, winning Birmingham in 2024 before reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon.  

These two have a long history, with their first match coming way back in 2012, at the French Open. Of their six career meetings, the most recent of which was in Guangzhou in 2023, four have gone the distance, so it's very likely that this will be a marathon. Putintseva leads the head-to-head 4-2 -- Maria hasn't beaten her since 2015 -- but this will be their first match on grass.