The highly anticipated return of tennis icon Serena Williams to Wimbledon was met with a mixture of excitement and sadness as she suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of world number 87 Maya Joint.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, was handed a wildcard for the women's singles event after making a shock return to professional tennis earlier in the month. Despite the initial enthusiasm surrounding her comeback, it was short-lived as she lost to Joint in a closely contested match.
The 44-year-old mother-of-two showed some promising early signs before Australia's Joint took control of the opening set. Joint, who has endured a miserable 2026 to date, looked to have got the better of Williams with another early break in the second set.
However, Williams used the support of the Wimbledon crowd to fight back, breaking back twice and then coping with the pressure of a tie-break to level the match. Williams had a break point early in the deciding set but failed to convert and quickly began to fade as age and a lack of match practice caught up with the tennis icon.
Joint has never reached the third round of a Grand Slam but is now one win away from doing so here at Wimbledon after finally ending Williams' resistance and serving out for a 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory.
Wimbledon fans have not seen the last of Williams, however, as she will team up with her older sister Venus in the women's doubles event. The atmosphere on Centre Court was subdued as fans watched the American legend lose to struggling Joint.
Former British number one Annabel Croft was still impressed by Williams' level, insisting she played some 'jaw-dropping' tennis given it was her first singles match in over four years. 'For somebody who hasn't played singles in four years I think it's extraordinary the level she has already brought,' Croft said. 'It is jaw-dropping.'
'I thought Maya Joint started to win the battle psychologically. Williams has played so well and there are a lot of players she would have beaten with this level – but her opponent was just inspired today,' Croft added.
Fellow American tennis legend John McEnroe also shared his thoughts on the match, saying, 'There is rather stunned silence here in not only the commentary booth but also in the crowd. There was that easy backhand to go up 3-1 which was missed, but we all remembered it is Serena Williams. But then you remember she is 44 years old and it has been two hours and 15 minutes of play.'
