Serena Williams snubs Wimbledon press conference after exit

Serena Williams is likely to escape being fined up to half her Wimbledon prize money for failing to attend a press conference after defeat in her comeback at SW19.

The 44-year-old, who was given a wild card by the All England Club, faced a backlash on Tuesday night over her response to her loss to Maya Joint in her first singles match since coming out of retirement.

After acknowledging Joint’s 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 triumph with the briefest of silent handshakes, Williams did not attend a mandatory post-match press conference.

That followed her last Wimbledon conqueror, Harmony Tan, posting on Instagram on Tuesday that she had been “blocked” on the social media site by the 23-time grand slam champion “after the handshake” between the pair four years ago.

Williams’s failure to attend a post-match press conference on Tuesday came a day after Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and other top players scrapped plans to stage a media boycott at the Championships in a row about prize money.

They had restricted their pre-tournament interviews on Saturday and Sunday to 15 minutes each.

Failure to attend a post-match press conference at Wimbledon can result in a fine up to $50,000 (£37,764), about half the £80,000 first-round prize money.

The grand-slam rulebook states that players must attend post-match conferences “unless unable to appear on reasonable grounds (for instance illness or injury)”.

It adds: “If a player is unable to appear, the appropriate level of direct communication is requested. Violation of this section shall subject a player to a fine up to $50,000.”

Williams’s non-appearance was criticised by Simon Cambers, the president of the International Tennis Writers Association, who wrote on X: “Impressed at how hard @serenawilliams fought tonight. Not impressed that she refused to do her obligatory media conference. Having been given a wildcard by Wimbledon, that’s not on.”

In a statement shortly after her defeat, Wimbledon said: “Unfortunately Serena Williams will not be able to undertake media this evening.”

It added what it said were “quotes from her”, which read: “It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. 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.”

It is unclear why Williams did not attend the press conference but Telegraph Sport has been told she is “unlikely” to be fined after informing organisers she was “unable” rather than unwilling to show up.

That contrasts with Naomi Osaka at the 2021 French Open, who withdrew from the tournament after being threatened with expulsion for refusing to speak to the media.

Osaka was fined $15,000 (£11,324) for boycotting her first-round post-match press conference, having announced before the tournament she would do so to protect her mental health.

In 2020, Novak Djokovic was also fined for not speaking to the media after being disqualified from that year’s US Open for accidentally striking a ball at the neck of a line judge.

Williams’s older sister, Venus Williams, has been docked prize money for skipping press conferences during her career.

Tuesday’s non-appearance by the younger Williams differs from the various duties conducted by her latest conqueror.

Joint said after the match that she was honoured to share a court with the seven-time champion, who did not speak to her during a brief handshake at the net after the match.

“I was up until 2am just thinking about it,” Joint said. “Walking out, I forgot the warm-up, my legs weren’t moving.

“I don’t know what just happened to be honest. This is pretty crazy.”

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