Wimbledon: Serena Williams suffers first-round defeat to Maya Joint in much-anticipated first singles match since 2022

Serena Williams suffered defeat to Maya Joint in her much-anticipated return to Wimbledon following a four-year absence after an epic battle on Centre Court.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion stunned the world of tennis when she announced her return to the sport earlier this month at the age of 44 - and there were faint hopes of a fairytale victory on her favourite grass-courts in west London when she avoided the big guns when the draw was made last week.

Williams showed flashes of brilliance against her 20-year-old opponent from Australia and dug deep to save a match point in the second set to force a decider. But she ultimately ran out of steam to suffer a 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 defeat.

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Joint had headed into Wimbledon having lost 11 matches in a row, but it did not show as she handled the big occasion and she seemed to relish in spoiling one of sport's biggest storylines this year.

"I really don't know what to say! I don't know what just happened to be honest," Joint said in her on-court interview.

"I didn't get much sleep last night. I was up until like 2am just thinking about it.

"My legs weren't moving in the warm-up, I really don't know how I got a good start in the match.

"She has such an aura, she's such a legend. I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.

"The start was so nerve-racking, and trying to finish out the match was hard as well."

It was always going to be a tall order for Williams to pull off an unlikely victory - especially given her lack of competitive action over the last few years.

Her last singles match was back at the US Open in 2022 where she said she was "evolving from tennis".

In the intervening years, she has become a successful businesswoman, had her second daughter (Adira was born in 2023 while Alexis Olympia was born in 2017) and even made a cameo appearance during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl half-time show last year.

On the eve of the Championships, Williams had spoken about her shock decision to accept a Wimbledon wild card and play her first competitive singles match in four years.

She said: "I was like: 'What's wrong with me, Serena? What are you thinking? Are you nuts?' Like: 'You really should do this'. People live to be an athlete. I have this great opportunity to showcase what I do, what I do best, I suppose. I think ultimately I was like: 'That is pretty cool, so I should do it'."

Yet her clash against Joint was a step into the unknown. Even though by now we should expect the unexpected when it comes to Serena.

Williams won the Australian Open in 2017 when she was eight weeks pregnant with her first child and went on to return to the sport and incredibly reach the Wimbledon final only 10 months after nearly dying in labour.

Now a mum of two, after giving birth to a second daughter, Adira, in August 2023, Williams said the chance to play in front of her children was the driving force behind her sensational return.

"It's really about the kids seeing me play. Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. It's components like that."

With her family watching from her corner, Williams almost showed them what mum used to do week-in, week-out as she threatened to produce a stunning fightback.

After losing the first set 6-3 to Joint after 35 minutes, Williams kept battling her younger opponent to force a tie-break.

Williams was staring down at match point when trailing 6-5 but produced a forehand winner to draw level and then produced a 120+ mph serve to earn set point and secured the set when Joint struck long.

But she began to run out of steam as the third and final set progressed and, after two hours and 22 minutes on court, her singles run was ended.

Her time at Wimbledon is not over, as she will compete in the doubles alongside sister Venus which starts later this week.

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