Wimbledon 2022: Serena Williams practices on Centre Court gets ready for first opponent

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Serena Williams walked out on Centre Court under a closed retractable roof on Friday afternoon, taking advantage of Wimbledon's new policy of allowing players to practice there and at No. 1 Court before the tournament begins next week.

Accompanied by coach Eric Hechtman — who has worked with her older sister, Venus, and replaces longtime coach Patrick Moratoglou, now with Simona Halep — and hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins, Williams returned to the site of her last official singles match anywhere, nearly a full year ago at the All England Club. That ended after less than a set, when Williams slipped on the slick turf and injured her right leg.

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FILE - Serena Williams returns the ball to Romania's Simona Halep, background, during the women's singles final match on day twelve of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland, File)

Wearing an all-white outfit and visor, Williams followed No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek into the main stadium and went through about 45 minutes of training, from groundstrokes to volleys and overheads to her best-in-the-game serve. The courtside "mph" monitors were switched off, so there was no way to tell just how fast her serves were zipping, but the echoes produced by her hard-hit shots reverberated off the arena's thousands of empty green seats and the white cover overhead as a light rain fell outside.

The scene played out a few hours after the draw determined that Williams will begin her Wimbledon comeback by facing Harmony Tan, a 24-year-old from France who is ranked 113th and owns a 2-6 career record in Grand Slam