Serena Williams made a sentimental return to Wimbledon on a warm evening, but her singles comeback ended in a first-round defeat to 20-year-old Maya Joint, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. The match, played on Centre Court, drew a crowd that displayed a mix of reverence and disbelief, with some spectators holding old photos of Williams as if at a vigil.
A Four-Year Absence
Williams, now 40, had not played a Wimbledon singles match in four years. At any level of sport, a four-year absence is often terminal, but for a grand slam singles tennis player at age 40, it is as close to sporting death as possible. The crowd, mostly millennials and younger, treated the match as a walking capsule of memories, recalling where they were when they watched her in her prime.
The game has moved on significantly. None of the other 127 players in the draw had faced Williams in a Wimbledon singles match. Line judges are gone, and Williams stared quizzically at close calls. Her opponent, Maya Joint, was born in 2006, by which time Williams had already won seven of her 23 grand slam titles. Joint, ranked outside the top 100, came into the match with only one tour win in six months.
A Competitive Spirit
Williams returned to the drug-testing pool quietly in recent months and tentatively started hitting balls in Florida with her old coach Rennae Stubbs. Despite doubts about whether she could still win, she competed fiercely. She saved two match points and hit screaming winners into the corners, with her serve showing irrepressible accuracy. Joint played the best match of her year to secure the victory.
At 5-5 in the second set, Williams faced 0-40 down but won four straight points to close out the hold, letting out a roar that Centre Court echoed. Novak Djokovic noted that he had seen Williams in the gym more during this tournament than when she was in her prime, indicating her dedication was not a vanity exercise, as some critics suggested.
Impact on Joint
The match brought out the best in Joint, who was low on confidence and plummeting down the rankings. She will forever be able to tell her grandchildren about the day she beat Serena Williams on Centre Court. For Williams, the loss was a reminder of time passing, but her shapes and silhouettes remained familiar, even as she let out a cry of refusal as the match slipped away.
