Serena Williams’ Wimbledon return felt special and yet strangely familiar

Wimbledon — 

In 2022, Serena Williams walked off Wimbledon’s Centre Court without knowing if she would ever be back. The American great had just lost to France’s Harmony Tan in the first round of the grass court major and questions about her future were swirling around this leafy corner of London.

The then-40-year-old had been struggling with injuries for a while and had slumped down to 1,204th in the world. She was a shadow of her former self on the court and hadn’t won a grand slam title in over five years.

“That’s a question I can’t answer. I don’t know,” she told reporters at the time when asked whether that would be her last time playing at Wimbledon. “Who knows where I’ll pop up?”

Now, well over 1,000 days from that question being asked, we finally have our answer. It was not her final Wimbledon. She’s back and as popular as ever.

So much has changed in the world since her last match at this tournament and yet everything felt so familiar when the now-44-year-old walked out on court to warm up for her first singles match since the US Open in 2022.

Despite everyone being here to watch her – and countless millions around the world tuning in – Williams managed to stay neutral. From the outside looking in, it seemed like just another day. There was no wave to the crowd, barely even a glance up to the stands. It was headphones on and eyes focused to the ground.

“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here,” Williams said post-match. “The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”

Ultimately, Williams went on to lose the match in three sets to Australian Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, but the manner of the defeat put a smile on everyone’s faces.

You could see Williams’ intent from the opening point when she returned a serve with so much venom that her 20-year-old opponent could barely get a racket to it. For a brief passage, it was almost as if Williams had never been away.

With the roof closed on Centre Court, the sound of every pop from her racket reverberated around the stadium with so much intensity. You could just close your eyes and know when Williams had unleashed one of her fearsome ground strokes or lightning serves that tipped over 120 mph at times. On occasion, those strikes were accompanied by her trademark grunt and celebratory roar, which have echoed around tennis venues since her debut almost 30 years ago.

Although powerful, not every strike was accurate and the timing sometimes looked a little off. That rust saw her staring down the barrel of a straight-sets defeat before things had even really gotten going.

But what happened at the end of the second set is why Williams won as many titles as she did. A set and a break down, Williams faced less than a 5% chance of winning, according to Wimbledon’s own analytics, but that seemed to push her to another level.

It was almost as if she locked into autopilot at that point, her body shocked into knowing exactly what to do when it was up against a wall. She dug in, imposed herself on her opponent and was fearless even when facing a match point. The arena erupted, eventually, when she clinched the second set and forced the decider.

Williams’ raw, supreme talent was still there for everyone to see in the third set, so too were the magic moments that called for several more standing ovations. In the end, though, they were too far and few between and she fell to a hard-fought defeat.

It was scarcely believable that people would get the chance to see the 23-time grand slam singles champion at Wimbledon again. But after she made a surprise comeback during the doubles draw at the Queen’s Championships at the start of this month, it was clear the grass-court major was on her radar.

After all, this is a place where she dominated during her career, winning seven singles titles, a host of doubles trophies and a single mixed doubles crown to boot. The Queen of Tennis simply became synonymous with the place. For decades, people flocked from around the world to see her play.

Four years on, they were doing the same.

By the time Williams confirmed her return, the ballot for Centre Court tickets had already been made. Those who were lucky enough to get one in the first place now held the hottest ticket in town.

Just walking around the grounds on Tuesday was enough to get you amped up for the match. Serena’s name was on everyone’s lips, with fans chatting about the American’s chances and journalists jostling for position to get their hands on a reserved media seat.

Her fellow players were also excited to see their idol up close, many answering questions about Williams’ return in their own conversations with reporters in the buildup to Wimbledon.

“I will be happy to observe and to learn because she’s obviously the GOAT (greatest of all time), and she inspired so many of us,” world No. 3 Iga Świątek told CNN Sports before the tournament even started.

But more importantly, Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian and two daughters were sitting in the players’ box for the match. It is for those girls that Williams is mainly doing this – a source of inspiration that remains powerful despite defeat.

That influence clearly stretches beyond her own family, too, with shouts of “Come on, Serena!” and “We love you, Serena!” being called out by kids who were barely born when she played her last grand slam match at the US Open in 2022.

Despite this being a first-round match on the second day of competition, it felt like a final.

In truth, it could well have been a final for Williams. Before taking to the court, there was no way of knowing how she would play, or even if her body could deal with the stresses of back-to-back grand slam singles matches.

From the very start, it felt like she was treating this as a one-off – a Hail Mary that she might only understand once it was all over.

But if the contest proved anything, it’s that her competitive fire still burns brightly. Her heart is all in, you could see that, even if her reasons for playing are different now than they were way back when.

Williams is set to be back later this week to take part in the doubles alongside sister Venus.

However, Serena’s agent said the American had “tweaked her right knee at the end of the first set” against Joint, which might impact her ability to play again at the tournament.

“She left the site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match later this week,” her agent added, per the Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, American No. 4 seed Ben Shelton also fell in five sets to Otto Virtanen of Finland 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(9) in what was a big upset on Court 2.

Shelton came into Wimbledon playing pretty well on grass – making the final at Stuttgart and quarterfinals in Halle but falling to fellow American Taylor Fritz on both occasions – so the result will be hugely disappointing for the US star who made the quarters at SW19 in 2025.