Serena Williams

Williams, who had not competed in singles on tour since withdrawing from Wimbledon last year with an injury, lost in three sets to Harmony Tan of France.

Williams served for the match at 5-4 and was two points from victory at 30-15 only to lose the next three points and her serve when she hit an unconvincing forehand approach shot that Tan slapped past her for a backhand winner. That was certainly understandable in light of her long layoff, and the crowd reacted with awkward silence at first. Tauziat understood the importance of keeping Williams out of her prime hitting zones and of keeping her on the move. She also looked as tight as piano wire, struggling to let her natural power flow and missing swing volleys and approach shots by the bunch while laboring to move laterally. It was a ragged but ultimately admirable performance as she tried to shake off the rust and solve the myriad riddles posed by Tan, who had watched Williams only from afar until their duel. But at least she can leave the All England Club with a less painful memory than what she took from last year’s Wimbledon, when she tore a hamstring after slipping in the first set of her first-round match with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, hobbling off Centre Court in great distress. She then had to navigate the tiebreaker despite the weariness in her legs and the tension in her gaze. Williams and her player box full of family, friends and team members, including her new coach Eric Hechtman, were not able to celebrate. She won two sets instead, turning what could have been a feel-good story for Williams into a narrow defeat that will repose the question of how much more professional tennis Williams intends to play. Williams dominated the second set but Tan fought back in the third while Williams’s level and energy dipped even if her fighting spirit did not. “When I saw the draw I was really scared, because it’s Serena,” said Tan, 24. Her grueling duel with Tan was a stylistic contrast that lasted 3 hours and 11 minutes.

Serena Williams lost in her first singles match in 364 days, outlasted by 115th-ranked Frenchwoman Harmony Tan 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 in the Wimbledon first round.

Asked if there’s any part of her that wants to play the U.S. Open in two months, she said, “That being the first place I’ve won a Grand Slam [in 1999], is something that’s always super special. Tan went up a mini break at 8-6 in the tiebreak, then served it out. This time around, even though I’m considered a favorite, I don’t feel like it as much as I did when I was 15 or even 16. I feel like I learned so much not to put pressure on now, now, now. Asked if she’s OK if this is her last memory at Wimbledon, she said, “Obviously not. “I feel like I’m a lot more relaxed than when I was considered the sensation,” Gauff said before the tournament.

Serena Williams has lost her first singles match in nearly a year, getting beaten by 115th-ranked Harmony Tan of France in a third-set tiebreaker at ...

She has won Wimbledon seven times. Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion but the 40-year-old American had not competed in singles since she got injured in the first set of her first-round match at the All England Club on June 29, 2021. Serena Williams has lost her first singles match in nearly a year, getting beaten by 115th-ranked Harmony Tan of France in a third-set tiebreaker at Wimbledon.

Seven-time champion Serena Williams suffered a second straight Wimbledon first-round exit as she was stunned by French debutant Harmony Tan in a late-night ...

They seem like the ones, they're the greatest of all time in tennis." But Nadal, who won the Australian Open in January and the French Open earlier this month, regrouped and used all his experience to fight back, breaking a now nervy opponent twice to seal the match to the delight of a packed Centre Court. Meanwhile in the men's draw Rafael Nadal made a stuttering but rousing return to the grass, beating 41st-ranked Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4 to begin his campaign for a third Grand Slam title of the year. "Still when I see Serena or see Venus, they seem like... But in the end the rustiness of so much time away from the court proved too much as another quest for a 24th Grand Slam title came to a heart-breaking end. The 21-year-old has won six titles in a row, including a second French Open trophy this month, and with her 6-0 6-3 victory over Croatian qualifier Jana Fett on Centre Court she became the first woman in the 21st century to rack up 36 consecutive victories.

Serena Williams was unable to summon the old magic as her Wimbledon return ended in a first-round defeat to little-known Frenchwoman Harmony Tan on Centre ...

Available to download now on - iPhone & iPad and Android The 42-year-old American is a five-time singles champion at the All England Club and won the doubles with her sister Serena on six occasions but she last played on the WTA Tour in August last year and has since been sidelined with a leg injury. The 18-year-old American is the youngest player in the singles draw and after her runner-up finish at the French Open this month, many are tipping her to go all the way at the All England Club.

It was the first singles match for Williams since she tore her right hamstring during the opening set of the first round at Wimbledon in 2021.

Ultimately, though, she lost to the steadiness of the daughter of Cambodian and Vietnamese parents, a player coached by 1998 Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat, and a player who improved her lifetime match record at Grand Slam tournaments to 3-6, set against that of Williams, which stands at 365-55. Wimbledon starts: The season’s third Grand Slam returns in full with big crowds, roars and a little rain. The war in Ukraine: As the tournament gets underway, Wimbledon’s Russia and Belarus ban leaves 16 of the top 100 on the outside. The match showcased her rustiness (54 unforced errors), her everlasting brilliance (61 winners) and the guttural screams that long have helped her find her inner Serena Williams. It showed her fight in the utmost when she prevailed through a monster of a 12-deuce, 30-point second game of the second set, taking on momentum there. As Tan peppered the court with drop shots as if by ancient text of how to play someone with 40-year-old legs, she forced Williams to elevate, and elevate Williams did. She lost an advantage after she led 3-1 in the third set.

The all-time great was downed in the first round of Wimbledon after spending a year away from the court.

I feel like . . . I don't know. Onward and up," Williams said. "Obviously, the summer is — we're in the summer now, and right in the swing of it.

Stepping out on court to play singles for the first time since leaving the big stage prematurely and in tears after suffering a hamstring injury in the opening ...

Available to download now on - iPhone & iPad and Android But today was what I could do. Asked if she could be satisfied with Tuesday's loss being her final Wimbledon memory, she said: "Obviously not. "But today I gave all I could do. I did pretty good on maybe one or two of them, but obviously not enough." Who knows where I'll pop up."

Former world number one and holder of 23 Grand Slams was playing at Wimbledon after a year out through injury.

The American was first to break in the decider but Tan levelled at 3-3. There are a number of things Serena Williams could be doing tonight. But here she is, grinding and hustling for every ball on Centre Court. What an athlete…#Wimbledon There’s definitely a lot of motivation to get better and play at home,” the 40-year-old American said. “Today I gave all I could do … Maybe tomorrow I could have gave more. “I am just playing for right now.

A second consecutive first-round exit at Wimbledon leaves the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion looking human, but suggesting she has more tennis left to ...

Williams packed up her bags, waved to the crowd, and then, in an interview room a little while later, said the idea of playing in New York at the U.S. Open later in the summer, after some time on the practice courts, carried plenty of appeal. “Just being here shows that she has a lot of love for her work and for this game. “The only thing that shows is passion and love for the game,” Nadal said of her comeback attempt. There were flashbacks on Tuesday. Williams surged to an early lead in the deciding set, then minutes later, she was fighting, down a game, though on serve, against the 115th-ranked player in the world, a 24-year-old who grew up watching her on television. But in the tiebreaker, she frittered away prosperity once more, allowing a 4-0 lead to become a 9-7 deficit. The Serena Williams of the past two decades has been so much more than a gifted athlete who knew what to do with 11 ounces of carbon fiber in her right hand. “I think it’s great that we have her back,” said Maria Sakkari of Greece, who called Williams a great role model. In addition to her usual slew of sponsors, Williams announced earlier this year that her early-stage venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, has raised an inaugural fund of $111 million to invest in founders with diverse points of view and backgrounds. Williams must, too, just as she did against Tan, a part of a deeper-than-ever WTA Tour where anyone can beat, or lose, to anyone else. For the better part of two decades, Williams dominated her sport unlike anyone else. A feathery drop shot late in the third set showed the touch that appears infrequently now. She became a successful businesswoman and a mother.

Kim Clijsters says Serena Williams will find it hard to balance family and tennis, as the American considers extending her comeback after losing at ...

"Playing matches is the only way where you serve under pressure. So that needs to needs to happen. Wimbledon

Even after a year-long absence from tennis, Serena Williams hasn't forgotten how to entertain.

Ahead of Wimbledon, Williams reflected on how tennis is no longer her sole focus in life. "That wasn't surprising for me because I knew I was doing that well. "The US Open -- that being the first place I've won a grand slam -- is something that's always super special," Williams added. But I'm moving well, I'm getting a lot of balls back. I definitely had to try to find my rhythm out there. Tuesday's match was a clear contrast in styles.

Serena Williams returns to action at Wimbledon this year, following on from her appearance in the women's doubles at Eastbourne last week.

We know this in any sport, but especially in tennis, you have to be so focused and insular, you have to shut everything else out. "She is also a mum, and they are all distractions. The club broke the tradition, allowing players to go and break that court in so it’s not as greasy on the first day. "I don’t think she has played a lot. She has had the opportunity to go out onto Centre Court and test - which is something new. Once the lining swells, mucus cannot drain from your nose and throat correctly.

Serena Williams is ending a year-long Grand Slam hiatus on Centre Court at Wimbledon 2022. Why has the tennis superstar been seen wearing face tape?

She's tied with Steffi Graf for the second-most Wimbledon singles titles in her career, trailing record-holder Martina Navritilova, who has nine. Wimbledon and the French Open, it's not easy." The last time Williams won Wimbledon was in 2016, when she defeated Germany's Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the final. The Sporting News explains why. The pair were unable to compete in the final four because Jabeur had a knee injury but Williams had proved a huge hit in her first matches since tearing her hamstring at Wimbledon 2021. Eight-time singles champion Williams has been seeded and will be the star draw in the women's singles on the second day of the tournament, entering as a wild card with a WTA world ranking of 411 before the start of play.

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The tape is meant to relieve pressure and pain from the condition. She said: “That's a question I can't answer. I don't know. Maybe a week ago I could have given more. Playing tennis or pretty much doing anything every day is not easy when you have sinuses. Maybe tomorrow I could have given more.

Serena Williams lost a three-set heartbreaker to Harmony Tan in her first match in a year as the 40-year-old recovered from a torn hamstring suffered at the ...

I see how I feel and go from there,” she said. “I am just playing for right now. But it was another ailment that had fans curious on social media.

Harmony Tan pulled out of the Wimbledon doubles tournament on Wednesday, just hours after she had stunned Serena Williams, leaving her partner “sad, ...

Sorry but I’ve played 6:33h in one day and played a singles match next day.” She asked me before the tournament if we wanna play doubles and I said yes. She can’t run cause she played a 3 hour match yesterday.

The retired tennis great has laid out the stark reality facing Serena Williams. More here.

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