Serena Williams Loses Her First Singles Match In Nearly Four Years At Wimbledon

Serena Williams came back to singles tennis at 44 years old, on Centre Court at Wimbledon, and lost a three-set match to 20-year-old Maya Joint that lasted two hours and 22 minutes and produced a standing ovation when it was over.

The final score was 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Williams had not played a professional singles match since her Wimbledon exit in 2022, the same tournament where she announced she would be "evolving away" from tennis shortly after.

She gave birth to her second daughter Adira in August 2023. She is 44 years old.

Joint is an American-born Australian ranked 118th in the world, not the kind of opponent that makes the result look inevitable.

Williams won the second set in a tiebreak to force a third. The crowd on Centre Court, which included her eight-year-old daughter Olympia, chanted and cheered throughout.

At the final point Williams smiled and waved to the crowd on her way off. She did not speak to the media afterward.

In a provided statement she said: "It was an amazing experience. I don't have any regrets. I love this sport and I love Wimbledon and I love the fans here. I'm so grateful."

Had she won, Williams would have become the oldest player to win a major singles match since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 2004 at 47 years old.

She did not win. She played. She smiled. She waved. The crowd gave her a standing ovation. For a return match that nobody knew was coming until a few weeks ago, that is its own kind of result.