Serena Williams’ Wimbledon singles comeback ends in a loss on a remarkable Centre Court night

THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London — The Serena Williams Wimbledon comeback may not have begun with the fairytale victory Centre Court was hoping for, but this was still one of the most remarkable nights in the tournament’s history.

Twenty-year-old Australian Maya Joint ultimately defeated Williams 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, but seeing the 23-time Grand Slam champion compete at the All England Club at 44, after a four-year absence from singles action, still made for an unforgettable occasion. Williams had looked down and out when she trailed by a set and a break, and then when she was down match point in the second-set tiebreak, but she showed why she remains one of the greatest in the history of any sport.

The roar when Williams escaped from the second set to force a decider was so loud it was as if she had won an eighth title on the court she made her own for almost two decades.

After all the build-up, all the will she-won’t she take a singles wild card, one of the most anticipated tennis matches in recent memory arrived. A packed Centre Court under the lights for a match starting at around 7.30 p.m. local time, this had the tension and edge of a final rather than a first-round match.

Williams is not just a seven-time singles champion here. She has transcended tennis entirely, and her presence at the All England Club over the past week — and ever since she announced her return — has taken over the sport.

Once the preoccupation about whether and why she was coming back had dissipated, the question was how she would fare back on the singles court? A win and a loss on the doubles court in the previous few weeks had pointed to a reasonable level of preparedness, but singles is an entirely different beast.

Could Williams’ peerless skills and mentality trump the fact that she was attempting something, in her mid-40s, that really shouldn’t be possible?

In the end, that’s how it played out. Possible to compete, yes, but to beat a WTA Tour player who is on court week in, week out? Not just yet.

Joint, the world No. 87 who had lost her previous 11 tour-level matches dating back to January, displayed a hugely impressive level of poise and self-confidence. Despite a second-set wobble, she refused to be overawed by the opponent and the occasion that she was facing.

After so long out, Williams’ movement in the early stages was understandably a little tentative — especially on grass. Her serve, which propelled Williams to those seven titles, by contrast seemed to have lost little of its potency. Williams held to love in her first service game, and cracked a serve at 123 mph in her second. It just missed, but it was a demonstration of the adrenaline coursing through the returning champion. In her third service game, she nailed an ace down the T at 121 mph.

After some early nerves leaked into Joint’s forehand wing, she fended off two early break points, and from there she settled into her tennis. Helped by two Williams double faults, she secured the first break of the match for 5-3. Williams was trying to get herself going, roaring after bulleting a forehand return winner past her opponent in the next game, but she was too often off balance when hitting groundstrokes. Joint, not buckling in a pressure-cooker environment, held to take the first set after a clinical 36 minutes.

A brilliant backhand winner down the line earned Joint a break at the start of the second, and she then fended off a couple more break points to hold for 3-1. Williams, at this point 0-5 on break points, was creating plenty of inroads but could not convert when it mattered most.

Williams did finally get the break back, however, producing her best game of the match up until that point, knifing away a volley and then ripping an inside-in forehand winner for 3-3. She and most of Centre Court roared in celebration. But Joint broke in the very next game, a reflection of the fact that although Williams was able to reach a very high top level, sustaining it was the issue.

Williams broke again for 4-4, and suddenly it felt as though the occasion might be getting to her opponent. But Joint was reminded a few days ago by Ajla Tomljanović, the woman who beat Williams in her last singles match four years ago, that the greatest of all time would be feeling nerves too. So it proved, as Williams hit consecutive double faults in an almost unbearably tense game in which she saved four break points and eventually held for 6-5. Joint was furious at herself for not taking the fourth one after being in complete control of the point.

She rebounded well to hold comfortably and force a tiebreak, which came down to who would handle the occasion and the growing anxiety better. Williams, with the experience of so many wins, or Joint, playing with both pressure and a sense that she had little to lose?

Both players were so locked in they seemingly forgot they had to change ends at 3-3. Williams moved to within two points of forcing a decider with an ace out wide, but Joint reeled off the next couple of points to lead 6-5 and bring up match point. The crowd urged Williams on, and she found a clutch serve to set up a forehand winner for 6-6 and another change of ends. A 122 mph serve down the T then brought up set point, and when Joint sent a forehand long, the crowd erupted.

It looked as though Williams would ride the momentum all the way to a famous victory when she broke for 2-1 at the start of the decider. But the effort of the previous couple of hours seemed to catch up with her, and Joint broke twice to lead 5-2. The noise ratcheted up again as Williams came out to serve to stay in the match. She managed it, but Joint, despite double-faulting on her second match point, converted the third.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was up until 2 a.m. just thinking about it,” Joint said in her on-court interview. “Walking out. … I forgot the warm up. I don’t know what happened, my legs weren’t moving. I really don’t know how I got a good start in the match. She has such an aura, she’s such a legend.”

She added in a news conference: “When we were in that hallway before we walked out into Centre Court, that was the craziest moment of my life.”

Asked about Williams’ unmatched aura, Joint said: “It’s difficult to explain. I don’t know. It just seems like she’s just so much better, like, in general than you as a person.

“It’s just intimidating having to play a match against someone who has achieved so much in their career.”

Joint said she may have been helped by being so young that she didn’t live through much of Williams’ prime. She was 10 when Williams won the most recent of her 23 Slams, at the 2017 Australian Open. The American had won seven of those before Joint was even born.

Williams has not spoken about her singles plans after Wimbledon, and did not do a post-match news conference Tuesday night. Her next assignment is a doubles match with Venus Williams later this week, which, given their six titles together here and her sister’s similarly legendary status, will be another huge occasion.

“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon,” Williams said in quotes distributed by the tournament. “I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”

Although she lost, Williams has shown to herself that she can be competitive in singles, and she did it in front of her daughters Olympia and Adira, which she said was one of her main motivations for coming back.

So while this wasn’t another title or improbable victory, it was another significant chapter in the Williams Wimbledon story that somehow continues to be written.

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