Serena Williams falls short in epic Wimbledon return against Maya Joint
Serena Williams pushed Maya Joint to three sets on Centre Court before the 20-year-old Australian closed out a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 upset in Williams’s Wimbledon return.
Serena Williams nearly completed a stunning comeback on Centre Court before Maya Joint shut the door on a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory that ended Williams’s first competitive singles match in nearly four years. The 44-year-old, back in the Wimbledon ladies’ singles draw as a wild card, forced a deciding set on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, but the 20-year-old Australian held firm in front of an estimated 15,000 spectators.
The result cut short a return that had carried unusual weight even by Williams’s standards. She entered the Championships having last played a competitive singles match at the 2022 US Open and had not appeared in a Wimbledon singles match since 2022. Williams has won seven Wimbledon women’s singles titles and reached four additional finals, but no player has ever won the women’s singles crown here as a wild card. That backdrop gave her opening-round match against Joint the feel of a referendum on how much of Williams’s elite level still survives against today’s field.
For long stretches, the answer looked promising. Williams saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak and stretched the contest deep into the third set, turning the Centre Court crowd into a full-scale chorus of support. Wimbledon Tennis Insights data had Williams performing above the women’s draw average through the middle of the match before her level dipped late. The arc fit the larger story around her comeback: explosive enough to unsettle a seeded opponent, but still vulnerable over three sets after such a long layoff.
Joint brought a sharply different profile to the contest. Ranked world No. 87 entering the match, she arrived as a 20-year-old in only her second Wimbledon main draw after losing in the opening round in 2025. The victory was the biggest of her career and the kind of breakthrough she had imagined since childhood, a statement win against one of the sport’s most recognizable names.
Williams’s return has also been shaped by family and by the economics of her enduring pull. Her daughters, Olympia Ohanian and Adira Ohanian, were in the stands, and Williams had framed parts of her comeback around wanting them to watch her play. She also arrived at Wimbledon after doubles outings at Queen’s Club, including a win alongside Victoria Mboko over Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez. Williams will remain at the All England Club for doubles with Venus Williams, keeping her presence in the tournament alive even after the singles loss.
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