Serena Williams has made a wondrous career of bending tennis to her iron will but, as she attempted her most audacious trick yet, sporting logic caught up with her in the end.
Under the echoing roof of Centre Court, the 44-year-old seven-time champion returned after four years and did thrilling battle with a woman less than half her age. The mother of two used all her skill and resilience to save a match point and take the second set and, as 20-year-old Maya Joint wobbled, it looked as though Williams’ champion aura might carry her through.
But tennis is a numbers game and when it came down to it, Serena’s 23 Grand Slam titles were of less significance than the 24 years she conceded to her opponent. Joint, the world No 87 in the worst form of her life, won 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 on Centre Court.
‘I didn’t get much sleep last night,’ said Joint. ‘I was up until 2am thinking about it. My legs weren’t moving in the warm-up, she’s such a legend, she has such an aura. I have been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid.’
This was Williams’ first match at Wimbledon since she was hacked to pieces by the eccentric stylings of obscure Frenchwoman Harmony Tan in 2022. That was a rather embarrassing affair and part of Serena’s motivation to return was said to be her desire to have a better ending to her Wimbledon career.
If she decides against continuing her comeback tour into a second season, this thrilling generation game was certainly a more fitting conclusion to her love affair with the All England Club.
Serena Williams lost her first round match at Wimbledon after returning to SW19 aged 44
The American waved farewell to fans on Centre Court after losing 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 on Tuesday
The first stage of Serenaissance came in doubles at Queen’s and Berlin, and she is not done here at Wimbledon yet as she will compete with sister Venus here too. By also entering the singles, she significantly raised the stakes of her comeback.
She is the oldest woman to compete at a Grand Slam since Martina Navratilova aged 47, here in 2004. Were Serena to make a run here – or at the US Open in September which will surely be her next target – it would be an achievement to rank alongside anything in sport. But without the reassurance of a doubles partner she left herself exposed to humiliation.
As Tracey Austin said on the BBC before the match: ‘Tracey Austin: ‘It’s a lot to put yourself out there. I wouldn’t do it, that sounds like torture!’
Far from torturous, this was uplifting and thrilling. The greatest female tennis player in history can never feel proud in defeat but there is plenty of pride to take here. Pride especially in how she twice fought back in swashbuckling style from a break down in the second set.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of the match, we ought to go back and acknowledge how much Wimbledon needed this Serena comeback. With Carlos Alcaraz out injured and the late withdrawals of Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper, the tournament was severely lacking in star power.
All the talk this week has been about this match. There would have been glamour in Serena drawing Coco Gauff or Aryna Sabalenka but there was far more intrigue in her facing a player like Joint. The Aussie has talent and won the Eastbourne title on grass last year but has been stuck in an almighty rut this season, losing her last 11 straight tour-level matches.
Spare a thought for the bookmakers attempting to price this one up: in the end they gave up trying and declared this match a 50/50.
The American legend was supported by her husband Alexis Ohanian and their two daughters
Australia’s Maya Joint celebrated the three-set victory, after admitting she barely slept over the exciting prospect of facing one of the sport’s greatest ever players
A lot was going to depend on Joint’s mental state and there her youth surely helped. An icon like Serena will always bring with her a certain mystique but Joint was 10 years old when Williams won the last of her 23 Grand Slam titles. The fear factor cannot be the same as for an older player who lived through Serena’s dominance. There were no signs of early nerves.
As for Serena, the issue, as it was always going to be, was movement. Once the rally developed she tended to overhit, as if in a rush to end the point one way or the other. There were exceptions – a lovely lob and a backhand pass on the run, skating for a winner via a clip of the net – but generally once Joint could drag the rally beyond the first few shots she was in business.
The problem is, there has not been a player in history against whom it has been more difficult to extend a rally. Williams understands that tennis is not about an outrageous retrieval or a delicate volley – it is about serving, returning and the first ball after each of those strokes.
That is the bedrock of her game and it allowed her to be competitive here. The Aussie was struggling to make any inroads on the Williams serve before the champion produced two double faults in a single game to concede the decisive break in the first set.
There was another double fault and another break early in the second and this match – for which the atmosphere was surprisingly muted – threatened to peter out. This is when Serena started bringing out her patented roar and that raised the blood pressure of the occasion.
As Serena dragged the score to 5-5 the first signs of anxiety began to appear on the other side of the court. Starting with a 0-30 lead in that game after two more Williams double faults – there were seven in all by the end – Joint had four break points but let them slip.
So to a tiebreak. Williams looked her age as she laboured up to a short ball on the first point; less so as she pummeled a backhand winner on the second.
For all its previous wobbles, the Serena serve came good in the tiebreak, saving a match point.
On her first set point, Williams played her best point so far, hanging tough in the rally and extracting the error. She took the breaker 8-6 and it was game on.
Joint shook her head and sat in her chair with visor cap pulled low over her eyes.
Tuesday’s first-round clash marks her return to SW19 for the first time in four years
On the first point of the deciding set Williams was aghast that a ball was called in on the baseline and appealed to umpire Marijana Veljovic – sorry, Serena, in the four years you were away they let robots call the lines so nothing doing.
When Serena broke for 2-1 it felt like the miracle was possible. But Joint recentred herself and locked in on her excellent backhand side. After two hours and 15 minutes, Williams’ level understandably dipped a little. Joint double faulted on her second match point but got over the line at last.
A fine win, a surreal but impressive way to snap that losing streak.
As for Serena, surely when she reflects on this she will see enough to keep the comeback rolling on to the US Open in September.
