Serena Williams loses on Wimbledon return

Serena Williams has lost on her return to Wimbledon, four years after her move away from tennis.

The 44-year-old American was beaten by Australian Maya Joint - 24 years her junior - on centre court in their round-one clash.

Williams, a seven-times Wimbledon champion, lost the match in three sets against Joint who won 6-3 6-7 6-3.

It was her first singles match since the 2022 US Open after choosing to return to the sport she dominated for so long.

Williams waved to all sides of the court as she left following her defeat, with Joint saying: "I didn't get much sleep last night, I was up till 2am just thinking about it.

"She has such an aura, she's such a legend. I've been dreaming about this since I was a little kid so this is pretty crazy."

Williams ​said this week she intends to continue training with the intention ‌of playing at the ​US Open later this year.

In the lead-up to the 2026 grass-court grand slam tournament at SW19, she played doubles at Queen's Club in London and in Berlin.

During her career, she has won 23 grand slam singles titles, one behind Novak Djokovic and Margaret Court.

Williams had been given a standing ovation as she walked on to centre court on Tuesday.

Several supporters held up signs with messages like "Welcome Back" and one wore a T-shirt with the words "Unstoppable Queen".

Williams' two daughters, her husband Alexis Ohanian and older sister Venus were all in attendance.

As well as receiving a wildcard entry for the singles draw, Williams will be partnering with Venus in the doubles at Wimbledon.

The pair have a total of 14 major doubles titles, including six at the All England Club.

Joint is currently ranked number 87 in the world and was looking to make it past round one at Wimbledon for the first time.

Williams last won Wimbledon in 2016 and holds an overall 98-14 record, but lost in the first round at her last appearance in 2022.

In stepping back four years ago, Williams did not say she was retiring, instead saying she was "evolving away" from the sport.

"Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution," she said in an article in Vogue in 2022.

"I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me."

Since then, Williams has welcomed a second child and worked on a major campaign endorsing a GLP-1 medication.

Her decision to accept the singles entry at Wimbledon was a last-minute decision, coming after her doubles appearance was announced.

"I thought not every day Wimbledon holds a wild card for someone," she said to the media on Sunday, according to the WTA.

"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."

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