In the opening round of Wimbledon, seven-time winner Serena Williams, 40, was defeated by 24-year-old Harmony Tan.
Williams returned to the court to play singles for the first time since leaving Centre Court inconsolably and in tears after suffering a hamstring injury in the first round a year ago. Her return resulted in a loss to unknown Frenchwoman Tan in the first round.
In what might be her final Wimbledon match, Williams lost 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7) in a deciding tie-break at 10.35 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28. This was just Williams’ third first-round defeat at a major slam.
Tan, a 24-year-old debutante ranked 115 struggled early on, but dragged Williams forward, and took control of the game to seal the victory.
“Today I gave all I could do,” said Williams. “Maybe tomorrow I could have gave more. Maybe a week ago I could have gave more. But today was what I could do. At some point you have to be able to be OK with that. And that’s all I can do.”
Williams was asked if she will be back at Wimbledon, a question she did not have the answer to. “That’s a question I can’t answer,” she said. “Like, I don’t know. Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up.”
