“n
n” “nLONDON. The legendary American tennis player Serena Williams returned to play a singles match in an official tournament after nearly four years of absence, but fell this Tuesday in the first round of Wimbledon to the Australian Maya Joint by 6-3, 6-7 (6/8) and 6-3.
n” “nYou might be interested in: Sabalenka will open Wimbledon against Kostovic; Serena Williams returns against Maya Joint
n” “nAt 44 years old, Williams returned to the circuit motivated by the desire for her two daughters to see her compete again, after retiring in 2022. The American had already reappeared this month in doubles tournaments and received a wild card to compete in the singles draw of the London Grand Slam.
n” “nThe seven-time Wimbledon champion showed flashes of her best tennis by rallying in the second set after saving two match points, and even took the lead with a service break in the third set. However, the young Joint, 20 years old and ranked 87th in the world, fought back to secure the victory after two hours and 22 minutes of play.
Despite the elimination in singles, Serena will continue in the doubles tournament alongside her sister Venus Williams, with whom she will debut on Thursday.
With her participation, Serena became the second-oldest player to compete in the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon during the Open Era, only behind Martina Navratilova, who played the tournament at 47 years old in 2004.
n” “nRybakina, Swiatek and Zverev advance
n” “nIn other results of the day, the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, second in the world ranking and 2022 Wimbledon champion, defeated the French Lois Boisson 6-4, 1-6, and 6-3 to advance to the second round.
More Read
For her part, the reigning tournament champion, Poland’s Iga Świątek, needed three sets to defeat American Taylor Townsend 6-1, 2-6, and 6-3.
n” “nIn the men’s draw, German Alexander Zverev, recent French Open champion, advanced to the second round after defeating Belgian Alexander Blockx 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/5), and 7-6 (7/0).
n”
