Williams fightback falls short on Wimbledon comeback

Serena Williams gave Centre Court reason to dream but a winning return to grand slam tennis ultimately proved beyond her.

Nearly four years after "evolving away" from the sport and having dithered until almost the last moment over whether to take a wild card, the 44-year-old entered the great arena to a standing ovation.

At an early break up in the deciding set against Australian Maya Joint – 24 years her junior – it appeared she might leave it as a winner for the first time since the 2019 semi-finals, but Williams faded thereafter and fell to a 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-3 defeat.

Having eventually decided that playing singles again in SW19 was simply too good an opportunity to miss, the American showed herself and the tennis world that she can be competitive, and she still has doubles to look forward to with sister Venus.

Williams waved to all sides of the court as she took her leave, with Joint saying: "I didn't get much sleep last night, I was up till 2am just thinking about it.

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

Williams was the oldest player to feature in the women’s singles at Wimbledon since a 47-year-old Martina Navratilova in 2004.

Navratilova won her opening match but the depth and physicality of the tour is on a different level now and Joint deserves praise for the way she handled the occasion, producing an impressive display.

The excitement among the crowd was tangible as they waited for Williams to walk out, and Centre Court erupted when she appeared, headphones clamped over her ears.

The roof, which had been closed to prevent a mid-match disruption should darkness descend, amplified the noise, while Williams’ two daughters and Venus were among those in her support box.

All England Club rules meant two-year-old Adira could not stay for the match itself but eight-year-old Olympia sat alongside her father Alexis Ohanian.

Had Williams been able to hand pick an opponent she may well have alighted on Joint, a softly spoken 20-year-old with limited grand slam experience and in horrendous form having won only one of her last 14 matches.

At less than half her opponent’s age, though, Joint clearly had the advantage physically and that began to tell from halfway through the opening set.

Williams is arguably in better shape than when she last played on Centre Court four years ago having gone public with her use of weight-loss medication but her foot speed could not match the crispness of her ball striking.

Her serve had impressed on her doubles comeback at Queen’s Club earlier this month and a 121mph ace to close out the sixth game drew gasps.

Williams has said that her comeback is about playing in front of her children rather than winning but the American is one of the biggest competitors the sport has ever seen.

She let out a big yell when she saved a break point at 3-4 but double-faulted on the next point and netted a backhand to allow Joint (below) to move in front.

The Australian’s confidence was clearly growing and she wrapped up the opening set in 35 minutes before moving 3-1 ahead in the second.

But from there Williams began to enjoy more success, finding greater penetration on her ground strokes and drawing a few more errors from the Joint racket.

The Australian had a first match point at 6-5 in the tie-break but Williams saved it confidently, her serve finding its groove just at the right time, and, when she brought up a set point, Joint went long.

The packed arena were fully believing in miracles, and even more so when Williams took a 2-1 lead in the deciding set, but from there Joint won four games in a row before converting her third match point.

Amanda Anisimova's (above) bid to banish memories of the worst Wimbledon final defeat in more than a century began with a comfortable straight-sets victory.

The American’s maiden grand slam final quickly turned from a dream into a nightmare last year when she was thrashed 6-0 6-0 by Iga Swiatek inside an hour.

Having become only the third woman ever to lose a major final without winning a game, and the first at Wimbledon since 1911, her return to SW19 started with a 6-3 6-2 success over North Macedonian qualifier Lina Gjorcheska.

The sixth seed, 24, will face compatriot Sofia Kenin in the second round after she defeated Croatian Petra Marcinko 7-6 (4) 6-4.

Clara Tauson’s quest to emulate last year’s career-best run was ended by a 6-3 6-3 loss to two-time grand slam semi-finalist Maria Sakkari.

The 23-year-old Dane – seeded 24th – defeated 2022 champion Elena Rybakina to reach round four 12 months ago.

Former Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova overcame fellow Czech player Tereza Valentova 6-3 6-4.

She will next face reigning champion Swiatek, who overcame a serious second-set wobble to reach the ⁠second round, beating powerful American Taylor Townsend 6-1 2-6 6-3.

Swiatek looked to be cruising when she broke nervy 30-year-old Townsend's serve twice ‌in the ⁠first set and took it with a stylish forehand winner.

But it was the third seed's turn to suffer nerves in the second set. She sprayed groundstrokes ‌long and wide as her forehand consistency deserted her and the ⁠79th-ranked Townsend capitalised, breaking serve twice ‌and capturing the set with an exquisite ⁠backhand drop ‌volley and an ace.

Swiatek struggled with her serve, producing three double faults in a marathon first game ⁠of the third set which included 10 deuces.

But ⁠that game appeared to galvanise her, the errors started to fade and, after the two women traded breaks, it was Swiatek who prevailed, winning the match with an ‌ace.

Britain's woeful start to Wimbledon continued as Katie Boulter became the 11th home player to crash out in the first round, crumbling ⁠to a 6-4 6-2 defeat to Grand Slam debutant Tyra Caterina Grant.

Injuries to Emma Raducanu, who withdrew on Sunday, and Jack Draper, who pulled out on Monday, meant 19 British players were in first-round action - 12 of them receiving wildcards and three coming through qualifying.

By the time Boulter slid to defeat against qualifier Grant before lunch on day two, only eight were left.

WIMBLEDON LIVE SCORING AND RESULTS

Ten defeats on a sobering Monday, including for ‌the usually reliable British ⁠number one Cameron Norrie against American qualifier Michael Zheng, were the home nation's worst day at Wimbledon this century.

There was finally a home victory to cheer on Tuesday though as world number 196 Katie Swan beat Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-4 in front of a joyous ‌crowd on Court 16.

Eighth seed Elina Svitolina was sent spinning out after a 7-5 6-2 defeat by fellow Ukrainian Daria Snigur, as her wait for a maiden Grand Slam title was extended.

Additional reporting: Reuters