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LONDON (AP) \u2014 Serena Williams had to talk herself into accepting Wimbledon\u2019s offer to play singles<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n The All England club was holding one last wild card entry and the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion \u2014 who had already announced she\u2019d play doubles with her sister Venus \u2014 had a decision to make.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I should really take this opportunity. Who knows if I\u2019ll ever make it here again. This could be it,\u201d the 44-year-old Williams said Sunday at a press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018What\u2019s wrong with me, Serena? What are you thinking? Are you nuts? Like you really should do this,\u2019\u201d she added. \u201cPeople 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 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 tennis comeback<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n Her most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round<\/a><\/span> to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis \u2014 she described it as \u201cevolving\u201d away \u2014 after losing in the third round<\/a><\/span> to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n After earlier accepting a wild card in doubles, Williams described the process of making her decision for singles.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think it was on, I had until Monday to decide. I think it was like Sunday. I just wasn\u2019t sure up until then,\u201d she said. \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m still not even sure, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon singles champion but said Sunday that \u201cin general my expectations are definitely different for the first time in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s to be followed by Taylor Fritz vs. home favorite Jack Draper \u2014 in what is one of the most intriguing men\u2019s first-round matchups.<\/p>\n And then Williams-Joint.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, actually I know her. I\u2019ve watched some of her videos,\u201d said Williams, who paused for a moment before adding, \u201cI\u2019m sure she knows my game.\u201d<\/p>\n Michigan-born Joint slipped from No. 53 to No. 87 in the WTA rankings updated on Sunday.<\/p>\n Even GOATs get butterflies, apparently.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect to be nervous. I was also nervous every single match I ever played in my life,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI 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\u2019ve always had some nerves. But then I just dust \u2019em off, then I move on.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams has a Wimbledon singles first-round record of 19-2 \u2014 the losses coming in her last two appearances: 2021<\/a><\/span> and 2022.<\/p>\n The most-recent of her seven singles titles at the All England Club was 2016. She reached the 2018 final \u2014 10 months after giving birth \u2014 and lost to Angelique Kerber. A year later, she lost in the final to Simona Halep.<\/p>\n Williams officially returned to tennis earlier this month in a doubles match with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko<\/a><\/span> at the Queen\u2019s Club grass-court tournament. She then played doubles in Berlin with Karolina Muchova<\/a><\/span> \u2014 losing in the first round.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t match her up with Williams in the first round.<\/p>\n \u201cRespectfully,\u201d Williams said, \u201cit\u2019s not surprising simply because I think anyone that\u2019s done \u2014 it\u2019s 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\u2019t think of anyone that would want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cNo one knows how my game may or may not have evolved, what to expect, don\u2019t know much. Those type of opponents are always very difficult to play.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSerena gets nervous?<\/h2>\n
What can we expect from Serena?<\/h2>\n