Serena falls to Joint at Wimbledon in 1st singles match since 2022

Serena Williams put up a remarkable effort in her first singles match in nearly four years, but the 23-time Grand Slam champion came up just short against Maya Joint at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

Williams, 44, thrilled the crowd on Centre Court with some vintage shot-making throughout the highly anticipated contest.

But it was Joint, the 20-year-old Australian, who held her nerve in the biggest match of her young career to claim a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory on tennis' most famous stage.

"I don't know what just happened," Joint, almost in a daze, said during her on-court interview immediately after the contest. "I didn't get much sleep last night.

"She has such an aura, she's just a legend and this court has so many huge names that have played on it," Joint added. "I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy."

Williams was appearing her first singles match since the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic.

She staved off a match point Tuesday before clinching the second set in a tiebreaker. But Joint recovered well in the decisive third set, at one stage grabbing 12 of 13 points to pull away as Williams eventually ran out of steam and sent the final shot of the match long.

Joint was riding an 11-match losing streak at tour level prior to Tuesday.

Williams also plans to compete in doubles at the All England Club with older sister Venus later in the week.

Serena Williams, who only played two doubles matches since announcing her return to the sport earlier in June, has captured seven Wimbledon singles titles in her iconic career. Her last one came in 2016.

She's the second-oldest woman in the Open Era to ever feature in the main draw at Wimbledon, behind only Martina Navratilova.

The 24-year age gap between Tuesday's opponents was the second-largest in a women's singles match at Wimbledon in the Open Era.

Williams had no ranking for the Grand Slam after missing so much time on the singles circuit. She was given a wild-card entry for the tournament.