Wimbledon 2026 | ‘I enjoyed the moment’: Serena Williams

Serena Williams returns to Maya Joint during their first-round tie on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

The roars began even before Serena Williams stepped on Centre Court. Then they grew louder when the 23-time Grand Slam champion arrived to play her first singles match in nearly four years.

And when it was all over and Williams, 44, had performed admirably in a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to Australia's Maya Joint in the opening round of Wimbledon with her two daughters cheering her on, Williams smiled as she walked off to a loud round of applause.

"It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here again. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything," said Williams, who displayed that she can still crank out serves faster than 120 mph and dictate points with her heavy groundstrokes.

Movement was an issue for Williams, though, and the 87th-ranked Joint was able to handle Williams's pace and win more of the big points by hitting beyond the American's reach.

"She [Williams] has such an aura, she's just a legend and this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy," said an ecstatic Joint, who was playing just her second match here.

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