WIMBLEDON, England -- Serena Williams' eagerly-anticipated return to singles competition after nearly four years away ended with a loss in the first round on Tuesday.
Playing under the roof on Centre Court against Maya Joint, a 20-year-old American-born Australian, Williams battled for two hours and 22 minutes but came up short, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. At the end of the match, Williams smiled and waved joyously to the crowd, which included her eight-year-old daughter Olympia, as she walked off the court.
The fans in turn, who had been loudly cheering and chanting for her throughout the evening, showered the 23-time major champion with another standing ovation. Had the 44-year-old Williams been victorious, she would have become the oldest player to win a major singles match since a 47-year-old Martina Navratilova did so at Wimbledon in 2004.
Williams, who opted to skip speaking to the media after the match, said she had appreciated the experience in a provided statement.
"It was really great to be back at Wimbledon," Williams said. "I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything."
Williams received a wild card to play in the grass-court major after announcing she would be returning to the sport earlier this month. After news broke that Williams had reentered the International Tennis Integrity Agency's registered testing pool on Dec. 2 of last year, there had been intense speculation about a potential comeback. She denied it initially, but the rumors only grew louder as she posted training videos in the spring.
She made her official return at the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club, also in London, earlier this month, where she played doubles alongside Victoria Mboko. She then played the following week, again in doubles only with Karolina Muchova. She was vague when asked about a return in singles but was announced as Wimbledon's final wild card just over a week ago.
Williams admitted she had been unsure about accepting it until the last minute.
"I thought [it's] not every day Wimbledon holds a wild card for someone," Williams said on Saturday. "I can name probably like a handful of people. I happened to be one of those people. I thought I should really take this opportunity. Who knows if I'll ever make it here again. This could be it."
On Tuesday, playing in the final match of the day on Centre Court, Williams, who "evolved away" from the sport following the US Open in 2022 in order grow her family (her second daughter Adira, who was on hand for Tuesday's walk-out on court but left before the match started, was born in 2023), showed signs of rust in the opening set but raised her level in the second. Utilizing her powerful groundstrokes and serving prowess - she had seven aces on the day and recorded multiple serves over 120 miles per hour - Williams electrified the crowd and "Let's go, Serena, let's go" chants and "Come on, Serena" cheers could be heard throughout the match.
When Williams won the second-set tiebreak, she clinched her fist as the fans jumped to their feet. It marked the 100th third-set match of her major career. She had previously won 71 of said matches and after breaking Joint in the third game of the final set, looked to be on her way to doing the same.
But Joint then rattled off the next four games to take control. Williams then won one more game on serve before a nervous Joint - who double faulted on her first match point --closed it out.
For Joint, a two-time champion on the WTA tour, it was a high point in a challenging year. She had won just three singles matches this season entering Tuesday's clash and had won just once since January. Playing in just the second main draw of her career at Wimbledon, she couldn't hide how much the moment meant to her when speaking on court after the win.
"I didn't get much sleep last night, I was up until 2 AM just thinking about it," Joint said. "Walking out I forgot the warm up. I don't know what happened. My legs weren't moving. I really don't know how I got a pretty good start at the match. I mean she has such an aura.
'She's such a legend and this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I've been dreaming about this since I was a little kid so this is amazing."
Joint later praised Williams' level to reporters, as well as the "amazing" atmosphere, and further elaborated on the surrealness of the night.
"When we were in that hallway before we walked out into Centre Court, that was the craziest moment of my life," Joint said. "Yeah, just watching all the greats and the legends do that, for me to do that as well was just insane."
Joint will next play No. 29 seed Alexanda Eala in the second round on Thursday. Williams will also be in action again later this week as she teams up with sister Venus, who was in attendance on Tuesday, in doubles. The pair will take on Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in the first round. The Williams sisters have won 14 major doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon.
But Williams has repeatedly said she is not focused on records or titles during this comeback, and has instead been motivated by getting the chance to play in front of her daughters and enjoying the sport.
"I don't need to win," Williams said at Queen's Club. "I've won more than most people have in their whole lives, so it's not that important to me, and it's important that I keep reminding myself of that, because I don't have anything to prove.
"I don't have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain."
In other women's action, defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, who had her father and sister looking on from the Royal Box, struggled with her serve and committed nine double-faults before overcoming Taylor Townsend 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. No. 2 Elena Rybakina also advanced, beating Lois Boisson 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.