Maya Joint ends Serena Williams' Wimbledon comeback in three sets; Williams stays for doubles
Joint, 20, beat Williams 6-3, 6-7(tb), 6-3 on Centre Court on June 30, ending the 44-year-old's fairytale return four years after she stepped away from singles; Williams saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak before Joint closed out the third
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Wimbledon Day 4 (July 2) results: Jannik Sinner def. Nuno Borges; Aryna Sabalenka def. Lena Kessler; Matteo Berrettini def. Arthur Fils; Alexander Zverev def. Lucas Royer; Taylor Fritz def. Patric Kypson; Grigor Dimitrov def. Jonas Mensik. British No. 1 Jack Draper withdrew from his second-round match with a recurring arm injury. Venus and Serena Williams play doubles later in the week. ↗
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Maya Joint defeated Serena Williams 6-3, 6-7(tb), 6-3 on Centre Court. Williams saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak and won it, then struck a 122-mph serve late in the set, before Joint took control in the third. Williams remains at the Championships to play doubles alongside Venus. Joint, ending an 11-match losing skid, faces Alexandra Eala in the second round. ↗
Summary
Serena Williams, 44, returned to Grand Slam singles tennis at Wimbledon on June 30, 2026, facing 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint in the first round on Centre Court. Maya Joint won 6-3, 6-7(tb), 6-3, ending Williams' comeback in straight sets after a competitive second set in which Williams saved a match point before winning the tiebreak. Joint, entering the match on an 11-match losing skid, said winning felt "surreal" after growing up watching Williams dominate the sport. Williams stays at the Championships to play doubles alongside Venus. Williams had accepted a wild card for the Championships, her first singles Grand Slam entry since the 2022 US Open, where a first-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic preceded her announcement that she was stepping away from the sport.
Why it matters
Williams' return tested whether the sport's most decorated active player by majors could compete at the highest level at 44, an age with no precedent in women's Grand Slam singles. The match attracted the widest non-World Cup sports audience of the summer. Joint becomes the player who ended Williams' comeback chapter; she plays on into the second round.