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LONDON – Serena Williams has avoided all first matches against opponents with a win at Wimbledon in a draw Friday that could defeat Elina Svitolina, fifth seed, in the third round.
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Wimbledon to start. She is already looking at the grass that her mother is determined to rip.
Serena Williams, who has not been ranked at the French Open after her world ranking has dropped during her pregnancy and her maternity leave, will be No. 25 at Wimbledon. Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are at different stages of form, but it looks like they'll all be on the courts of the All England Club.
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Williams returns to the tournament pitch for the first time since 2016 after missing last year during pregnancy. She gave birth to a girl in September
. She is ranked in the top 150, but the All England Club has decided to place 25th because of her past successes, including seven of her 23 Grand Slam victories at Wimbledon. Williams' opponent in the first round on Monday will start at 107th place Arantxa Rus, of the Netherlands, who has a career title.
Williams is in contention for the first time since she retired from the French Open In early June, Maria Sharapova, a five-time world champion, faced a muscle of the injured chest. It was Williams' return to the Grand Slam after an absence of 16 months
Rus was only once until the third round of Wimbledon, in 2012. That was the last time she won a match at the All England Club. She was beaten in the first qualifying round a year ago, as were the two women Williams faced in the second round, Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, ranked 136th, and Tereza Smitkova, winner of the Czech Republic.
Svitolina was only once until the fourth round
Williams' fourth-round opponent, Madison Keys, finalist of the US Open 2017, made an appearance in the quarterfinals, while the potential quarterfinal of the 36-year-old American The defending champion of the Australian Open Carolina Wozniacki has never been to beyond the fourth round.
Williams could face his older sister, five-time champion and Venus, seeded No. 9, in the semifinal. Venus Williams opens against Sweden's Johanna Larsson, ranked 62nd at Wimbledon (0-7).
In the first half of the women's pool, the quarterfinals could be French Open champion Simona Halep against Wimbledon double winner Petra Kvitova, and defending champion Garbine Muguruza vs. No. 6 Carolina Garcia. In the bottom half, Wozniacki No. 2 was drawn to face Svitolina, while Sloane Stephens, champion of the US Open 2017, could play Karolina Pliskova No. 7.
The potential male quarterfinals are eight times champions Roger Federer vs. US Open 2017 runner-up, Kevin Anderson, and Marin Cilic, winner of the US Open 2014 against Grigor Dimitrov, seeded No. 6. In the half Bottom of the range, it could be Wimbledon's two-time winner Rafael Nadal against 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, and number 4 Alexander Zverev against number 7 Dominic Thiem.
Andy Murray will face Benoit Paire in 48th place in the first round. It's a rematch of Murray's victory in the fourth round against the Frenchman at the All England Club in 2017.
It was Murray's last victory before it was almost a year to cause of a surgically repaired hip injury in January.
He returned to action last week and therefore ranked only 156th and unrated at Wimbledon, which he won in 2013 and in 2016.
Murray could face Denis Shapovalov, 26th seed in Canada in the second round
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