Serena Williams returned to women’s singles competition at Wimbledon on Tuesday after a four-year absence, drawing major attention from the stands—but her comeback run ended at the first hurdle as she was beaten 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 by Australia’s Maya Joint.
The 44-year-old entered as a wildcard and was denied the chance to become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the All England Club since Martina Navratilova’s success in 2004. Despite the defeat, Williams said she was thrilled by the reception she received from fans throughout her return.
“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon,” Williams said. “I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”
Joint, who was not even born when Williams captured the opening run of her 23 singles Grand Slam titles, managed to block out the noise surrounding the much-anticipated return and secured what was described as the biggest win of her career on Centre Court.
“I really don’t know what to say right now. I don’t know what just happened,” said the 20-year-old.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was up until 2 a.m. just thinking about it. Walking out today, I forgot the warm-up, I don’t know what happened. My legs weren’t moving. I don’t know how I got a pretty good start in the match.
“She has so much aura, she’s such a legend. This court has had so many huge names play on it. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid so this is pretty crazy.”
With singles finished, Williams now turns her attention to the doubles tournament alongside her older sister, Venus. For Joint, the next step is a second-round meeting with Filipino 29th seed Alexandra Eala.
Other Wimbledon developments
- As the day progressed, Stan Wawrinka, aged 41, delivered his goodbye to Wimbledon fans in what was his final appearance at the Championships. He was eliminated in a marathon match, losing 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) to Matteo Berrettini.
- Before Centre Court fully shifted away from Williams’ singles return, defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek moved into the second round after recovering from a shaky moment. She beat strong American opponent Taylor Townsend 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
- Swiatek, visibly emotional after the fightback, said she was pleased to get through despite tension during the second set and felt she was able to return to her best tennis. “I’m happy I could get through a match like that because I got quite tense in the second set and I was able to come back to my game,” she said, fighting back tears.
- She added: “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d play this well or make it this far. But now that we’re here, we’re going to celebrate.”
- Swiatek also reflected on the nature of such results: “These are the moments where you feel that you did your job because it’s not hard when everything goes your way and you’re so confident that everything goes in.”
- In another match, American Amanda Anisimova—who was beaten by Swiatek in last year’s final—comfortably advanced. She defeated qualifier Lina Gjorcheska 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes.
- Anisimova discussed the challenge of facing a qualifier and praised Gjorcheska after noting the momentum that comes from already having matches under one’s belt. She said: “It’s not easy to play a qualifier… I feel like they’ve had a few matches under their belt. She was playing really good tennis today. I’m happy to be through to the next one.”
- Gjorcheska had made history as the first player from North Macedonia to reach a Grand Slam main draw.
- Meanwhile, former finalists Jasmine Paolini and Karolina Pliskova also progressed to the second round.
