Serena Williams will make her return to grand slam tennis with a first-round match against Australian Maya Joint at Wimbledon.
Having launched a comeback this month in doubles at the age of 44, it was announced last weekend that Williams had taken the final wild card into the women’s singles.
The 23-time grand slam singles champion last played a singles match nearly four years ago at the US Open in what had appeared to be her farewell to the sport.
Emma Raducanu is due to open her campaign against Croatian Antonia Ruzic but fitness doubts surround the 30th seed, who could again meet Aryna Sabalenka in the third round in a repeat of last year.
Raducanu did not turn up for her scheduled practice session on Thursday having reportedly been seen wearing a protective boot the previous evening.
The British number one’s team confirmed she is managing a niggle and concerns grew when she did not appear on the practice schedule for Friday.
Raducanu is due to speak to the media at a press conference on Saturday.
Jack Draper was at the mercy of the draw after dropping well down the rankings and the former world number four faces a blockbuster opener against sixth seed Taylor Fritz, who reached the semi-finals last year.
Draper has shown strong form on his return from his latest injury troubles in Eastbourne this week but his hopes of surpassing the second round for the first time now look slim.
Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner takes on Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic first up and is in the same half as Novak Djokovic, who meets China’s Wu Yibing.
Cameron Norrie is Britain’s only seed in the men’s draw at 26th and he faces American qualifier Michael Zheng, with third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime a potential third-round opponent.
It was generally a tough draw for the home players, with five others meeting seeds.
Oliver Tarvet faced Carlos Alcaraz on Centre Court last year and his reward for coming through qualifying again is a clash with 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech, while fellow qualifier Billy Harris meets 19th seed Karen Khachanov.
Toby Samuel, who plays in the semi-finals at Eastbourne later on Friday, has drawn 15th seed and French Open semi-finalist Jakub Mensik, and fellow debutant Felix Gill meets rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar, the 23rd seed.
Jack Pinnington Jones, meanwhile, plays American 28th seed Brandon Nakashima.
Among the other home hopefuls, Arthur Fery meets Damir Dzumhur, Jan Choinski faces Vit Kopriva, Jacob Fearnley takes on Alex Michelsen, Harry Wendelken plays Valentin Royer and Max Basing opens against fellow qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki.
French Open champion Alexander Zverev faces a potentially tricky opener against young Belgian Alexander Blockx, while two standout draws were Stan Wawrinka, in his final Wimbledon, playing Matteo Berrettini and Daniil Medvedev taking on another former finalist in Marin Cilic.
In the women’s draw, both Sabalenka and reigning champion Iga Swiatek, neither of whom are in good form, have been handed tough paths.
As well as Raducanu and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in her section, Sabalenka could meet Naomi Osaka in the fourth round and Roland Garros winner Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals.
Swiatek, meanwhile, opens against American Taylor Townsend, could play former finalist Karolina Pliskova in the second round and Williams or rising Filipino star Alexandra Eala in round three.
Among the British players, Katie Boulter plays qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant while 17-year-old Hannah Klugman has an eye-catching first match against former champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Another 17-year-old, Mika Stojsavljevic, takes on 11th seed and last year’s semi-finalist Belinda Bencic, with Harriet Dart facing Ostapenko for the right potentially to meet Raducanu.
Fran Jones plays France’s Diane Parry and wild cards Mimi Xu, Katie Swan and Alicia Dudeney were drawn against Daria Kasatkina, Irina-Camelia Begu and Alycia Parks, respectively.
