Over the first two days of the 2026 Wimbledon coverage, there were a lot of attention about Serena Williams’s return to professional tennis. How strong would Williams be on the court and would she be a contender to win the 24th grand slam singles title of her career?
Well, we found out the answer to the second question on Tuesday. Williams put up a good effort in her first round match against the American-born Australian Maya Joint, but at the end of the day, it was simply not enough. Joint, the 87th ranked player in the world, defeated Williams 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
Joint had the statistical advantage when it came down to the serve. Joint had 10 aces and five double faults. Williams had seven aces and seven double faults.
Next up for Joint is the 29th seed, Alexandra Eala of the Philippines. Interestingly, this is a rematch of the 2025 Eastbourne final, which Joint won 6-4, 1-6, 7-6. Eala made tennis headlines when she made the semifinals of the 2025 Miami Open ranked 140th in the world.
Joint is one of five Australians to win their first round match at Wimbledon. The other four are Alex de Minaur, James Duckworth, Daria Kasatkina and Kim Birrell. Kasatkina is actually off to round three as she defeated Janice Tjen of Indonesia, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.
In other tennis news, there is a possibility that Serena Williams might withdraw from playing doubles with her sister, Venus Williams. That is because according to Jonathan Jurejko of the BBC, Williams injured her knee against Joint.
