Serena Williams Returns to Grand Slam After Nearly Four-Year Hiatus
44-year-old American tennis legend Serena Williams played her first Grand Slam singles match since 2022 on Monday at Wimbledon, losing in three sets to Australian Maja Joint.
After nearly four years away from Grand Slam singles, Serena Williams returned to Centre Court at Wimbledon on Monday. The 44-year-old American legend faced Australia's Maja Joint, ranked 87th in the world, and lost 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3.
Joint, born in 2006, was not yet alive when Williams won her first of seven Wimbledon singles titles. At that time, Williams was already a seven-time Grand Slam champion. By the time of this match, both players were considered evenly matched.
Williams saved three break points in the 11th game of the second set and won the tiebreak 8-6. She took a 2-1 lead in the third set with a break, but then lost the next four games, falling behind 2-5. Joint had a match point on Williams's serve but double-faulted. On her second match point, Joint converted when Williams hit a forehand long.
Statistical highlights: Williams won 46% of points on her second serve to Joint's 50%. Total points were 103-115 in Joint's favor. Both players had 11 break points; Williams converted three, Joint five. Williams hit seven aces and seven double faults; Joint had ten aces and five double faults. Williams had 26 winners and 37 unforced errors; Joint 39 winners and 37 unforced errors.
Before this match, Joint's 2026 season record was 5-13. Williams's last singles match was on September 3, 2022, at the US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanović. Williams has spent 319 weeks as world No. 1, won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, and seven Wimbledon titles. She was competing at Wimbledon for the 22nd time.
