Serena Williams’ Wimbledon comeback at 44 has been sensationally dynamited on Centre Court by Australian Maya Joint, who delivered a stunning performance to out-battle the hugely impressive returning legend and fulfil a childhood dream.
In the match of her life, the Queenslander produced the best display of her career to prevail 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3, withstanding everything that the player who may be the game’s greatest ever could throw at her.
Joint overcame the disappointment of missing out on a match point when she was on the verge of a straight-sets win, then battled back after Williams had roared into a third-set lead to seal a monumental triumph in a two-hour, 22-minute classic.
The win left Joint, who grew up in the US state of Michigan where Williams was also born, almost speechless.
‘She has such an aura, she’s such a legend,’ Joint eventually told the crowd.
‘I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.’
Australia’s Maya Joint celebrates after playing the match of her life to defeat Serena Williams in three sets at Wimbledon
Williams (pictured congratulating Joint after the match) won the second set in a tiebreak and led in the deciding set before the Aussie stormed home
For though Williams may have been more than half a step slower and inevitably rusty after nearly four years away from singles action, she was still astonishingly impressive, almost unbelievably so, three months before her 45th birthday.
Yet her Aussie opponent stayed strong, even as seemingly all the crowd were baying for a sentimental Serena triumph under the Centre Court roof, perhaps proving how much the game has moved on in the 23-time slam champion’s absence.
At just 20 years old, Joint is part of the new generation of female tennis players who have never before faced Williams on the court.
Their 24-year age gap was the second-largest in the open era of Wimbledon.
Tuesday’s first-round clash marked Williams’ return to SW19 and singles action for the first time in four years after having publicly stepped away from the sport following the 2022 US Open.
Joint had lost 13 of her previous 14 matches stretching back to January and had dropped to No.87 to be only the Australian No.4, but she was still a cut above Williams, who threw her best punches, only to have them, for the large part, returned with interest.
By the end, though, the great champion seemed to be struggling physically, even showing signs of a limp, in her first match since she was beaten by another Australian, Ajla Tomljanovic, at the 2022 US Open.
In the time since she ‘evolved’ away from the sport, Williams welcomed her second daughter, Adira, with Alexis Ohanian, who was in her box to cheer her on.
Joint described the American icon as ‘such a legend’ after the win
The 24-year age gap between Williams (pictured farewelling the crowd on centre court) and Joint was the second-largest in Wimbledon’s open era
The two-year-old defied Wimbledon’s age restrictions for Centre Court to sit alongside her dad and older sister Olympia, eight, and watch her mom compete at SW19 for the first time.
Wimbledon traditionally enforces an age limit of five and above to attend the show courts. However, exceptions were evidently made for the daughter of a seven-time winner.
Williams’ posse of supporters was rounded out by her sister Venus and new brother-in-law, Italian actor Andrea Preti, whom Venus wed last year.
They stood and applauded her as the tennis legend graciously exited the famous court, waving to the spectators who had packed Centre Court to get a glimpse of the titan’s return.
