Serena Williams loses in the first round of Wimbledon

Tennis great Serena Williams decided to return to top class tennis and walked onto Centre Court at Wimbledon at the age of 44 with two kids.

She held the world’s attention. Could she push back Father Time and defy the odds? 

Many of us have never got to do so.

After four years away from Grand Slam tennis, she was up against Australian Maya Joint, her junior by 24 years.

It turned out to be an intriguing contest with Serena Williams showing she still has the weaponry to dismantle opponents.

Her serve is still potent, and her forehand should still be feared.

But she is rusty and hasn’t figured out how to put it all together just yet. That will come with competitive matches and remembering what to do on court.

Maya Joint played well; she was not intimidated by Serena Williams and went for her shots. She looked athletic out there. It was hard to believe she had not won a match in her last 11 outings. 

Perhaps the 24-Grand Slam winner brought out the best in her.

Former American number-one player Andy Roddick said the true test would be Serena Williams’ movement. She still has some work to do there, but that is expected to come.

After Williams dropped the first set 6-3,  it looked like Joint would cruise through the second set and easily dispatch the seven-time Wimbledon champion.

Perhaps it was a mistake to make herself vulnerable to a new generation of women tennis players who have moved the game along.

But Serena Williams pushed back time and fought back, winning the second set in a tie breaker.

Could she come back and beat Joint?

She started well in the third set, but on the two-hour mark, she started to make a raft of mistakes and seemed to run out of energy.

Alas, it was too much to expect, but many of us hoped.

In the middle of the deciding set, Joint won 11 out of twelve points and changed the tide of the game, going on to take the set 6-3.

There was a time when Serena Williams would run down every ball, but that was not the case today. She did not respond to some of Joint’s crackers on both the forehand and backhand wings, simply conceding the point.

Throughout it all, she had a regal demeanour out there and demonstrated that with a little more work, she can get back within the top 50. 

It is hoped that she plays a couple of tournaments before playing the U.S. Open in late summer. 

There is a lot that Serena Williams can draw upon from today’s performance. It might sting a bit that she went out in the first round, but she should not dwell on that.

She held her own about there at 44 years old, and she could have won this match if she were a little more assertive. 

Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Kim Clijsters all came back on the tour after giving birth to children and played good tennis. Wozniacki made it to the round of 16 of the U.S. Open in 2023, going down to Coco Gauff in three sets.

In Serena Williams’ case, she is 44, and that will be more demanding on the body, but she looked good out there and in good shape.

Serena Williams did not do a post-match press conference but rather issued a statement, 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, enjoyed the moment more than anything.”