Wimbledon 2026: Serena Williams suffers first-round exit on Grand Slam return as she loses to Australia's Maya Joint

Serena Williams' much-awaited return to the Wimbledon championships was short-lived after she suffered a first-round loss to Maya Joint at the All England Club on Tuesday.

The 44-year-old suffered a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 defeat to the Australian, who is ranked 87th in the world. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, became the second-oldest player to feature in the women's singles category at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Martina Navratilova, who was 47 years old when she reached the second round in 2004, is the oldest player to do so.

Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, competed gamely.

"It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here," said Williams in a short statement released after she declined to undergo her media duties.

"The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything," the statement added.

She saved two match points and took a tense tussle lasting two hours and 22 minutes to a deciding set, which she led by a break before Joint stormed back to spoil the party.

Serena Williams to compete in women's doubles with Venus

Williams' Wimbledon adventure isn't over yet, as she is also playing in the doubles with her sister, Venus Williams.

Motivated by a desire to play in front of her young children, Williams had come out of retirement earlier in June. She played doubles events at Queen's Club and Berlin before accepting a wild card entry into the Wimbledon singles.

Her last Grand Slam match was the US Open third-round defeat against Ajla Tomljanovic in 2022, which seemed to bring the curtain down on Williams' career when she said she was "evolving away" from tennis.

But after 1,462 days away from Wimbledon since losing to Harmony Tan in the first round in 2022, Williams was back at the tournament she dominated in her prime, with 11 final appearances.

She was greeted warmly by the packed crowd, although she may not have heard the full volume of the reception as she arrived on court wearing headphones. Under the closed roof, camera phone flashes lit up the famous old arena as fans snapped pictures of one of the sport's most iconic stars.

Her daughters, Olympia and Adira, her husband, Alexis Ohanian and her elder sister, Venus, were all watching from the players' box.

Clenched fists

Cheers rang out as Williams prepared to face Joint's opening serve in the first game, and the noise was even louder when she won that point. Joint ignored the din to hold serve, but Williams responded with a perfectly weighted lob in the next game to gasps of delight.

When Joint, 20, was born in April 2006, Serena had already won seven Grand Slam singles titles.

The world number 87 had won just once in her previous 14 matches. But Joint was unfazed by the occasion and she broke Williams in the eighth game before serving out the first set to groans from the crowd.

After Joint broke in the first game of the second set, it looked like Williams would bow out tamely. She had other ideas, clenching her fists in delight after unleashing a brilliant passing shot to break Joint for the first time in the sixth game.

Joint broke again for a 4-3 lead, but once more, Williams roared back with another break. A nerve-jangling tie-break swung Williams' way when she saved a match point with a nerveless winner before capitalising on a Joint miscue to level the match.

Williams broke first in the decider, but Joint hit back with a pair of breaks to move 4-2 ahead.

Raging against the dying of the light, Williams shrieked in frustration when Joint brought up another match point, and when the American's forehand drifted long, the dream of another Wimbledon title was over.

Williams, who last won a Grand Slam crown at the 2017 Australian Open, departed quickly, waving to the crowd before leaving the stage almost as suddenly as she returned.

(With agency inputs)