Serena Williams announced her comeback to tennis during Roland Garros. Many of us were expecting it, given that Serena had reentered the drug-testing protocols necessary to reenter the tour. There was a huge buzz around the tennis world, especially when it seemed like Serena was just coming back to play doubles (for now), and she accepted some wildcards at the grass tournaments at Queen’s Club and Berlin. She played all of two doubles matches in two tournaments, then she went to Wimbledon to practice ahead of playing doubles with her sister Venus. Wimbledon held onto a singles wildcard until the very last minute until Serena accepted it. On Tuesday, Serena came back to singles on Centre Court. She lost in three sets.
I watched most of this match, and I thought Serena looked okay, just rusty as hell. You could tell that she hadn’t played a competitive singles match in years, you know? But there were positive signs – she served well (off and on) throughout the match, she was comfortable coming to net, some of her volleys looked great. The uncomfortable truths: she didn’t want to run after balls (or she couldn’t run after them), and her return of serve was pretty terrible. Her opponent Maya Joint has had a terrible year on court, but Joint played great when she was facing Serena. Joint has a good grass-court game, but that was a winnable match for Serena.
What’s next for Serena? Hopefully, she and Venus are still playing doubles at Wimbledon. Their first round will probably be scheduled for Thursday or Friday. I hope Serena gets more match-play in North America ahead of the US Open too – I could see her taking wildcards into the tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati. Would she play in DC? Hm. But I definitely think she’s going to play singles and doubles in New York.
Tournaments mandate that players have to do press conferences after matches, win or lose. The penalty for skipping is a fine (for the first time). Serena took the fine and skipped her post-match press conference, which some critics are mad about, especially since Serena was there on a wildcard. I’m fine with Serena skipping – everybody and their brother was making money off her comeback, ESPN had a countdown clock, I’m sure advertisers were thrilled. She did enough. Plus, she did plenty of media obligations pre-match!!
Serena Williams not doing press tonight at #Wimbledon, lol.
The tournament sent a quote attributed to her. pic.twitter.com/aYRthRcmu9
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) June 30, 2026
Update: Apparently, Serena tweaked her knee during her match and now she’s in doubt for doubles.
Williams’ agent Jill Smoller said: ‘Serena tweaked her knee at the end of the first set and was therefore excused from her media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams. She left site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match’
— Tom Kershaw (@trlkershaw) July 1, 2026
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- London, UK Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, and Iga Świątek were all in action on day two of Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Club in London. Serena’s highly anticipated singles comeback came to an early end as she was defeated in the first round by Australia’s Maya Joint. Meanwhile, Townsend faced Świątek in a first-round clash as the players kicked off their campaigns at The Championships. Pictured: Serena Williams BACKGRID USA 1 JULY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UK Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, and Iga Świątek were all in action on day two of Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Club in London. Serena’s highly anticipated singles comeback came to an early end as she was defeated in the first round by Australia’s Maya Joint. Meanwhile, Townsend faced Świątek in a first-round clash as the players kicked off their campaigns at The Championships. Pictured: Serena Williams BACKGRID USA 1 JULY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UK Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, and Iga Świątek were all in action on day two of Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Club in London. Serena’s highly anticipated singles comeback came to an early end as she was defeated in the first round by Australia’s Maya Joint. Meanwhile, Townsend faced Świątek in a first-round clash as the players kicked off their campaigns at The Championships. Pictured: Serena Williams BACKGRID USA 1 JULY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UK Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, and Iga Świątek were all in action on day two of Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Club in London. Serena’s highly anticipated singles comeback came to an early end as she was defeated in the first round by Australia’s Maya Joint. Meanwhile, Townsend faced Świątek in a first-round clash as the players kicked off their campaigns at The Championships. Pictured: Serena Williams BACKGRID USA 1 JULY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UK Serena Williams, Taylor Townsend, and Iga Świątek were all in action on day two of Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Club in London. Serena’s highly anticipated singles comeback came to an early end as she was defeated in the first round by Australia’s Maya Joint. Meanwhile, Townsend faced Świątek in a first-round clash as the players kicked off their campaigns at The Championships. Pictured: Serena Williams BACKGRID USA 1 JULY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
There comes a time that when your soul tells you to retire, and you do, you need to stick to it. I don’t think I’ve seen an athlete un-retire and come back in peak form (i.e. Tiger, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, etc.) Let the youngsters have the court.
If you want to un retire, do it at some smaller tournaments. Doesn’t have to be Wimbledon. Are you there for the game or the glory?
Do they have to be in peak form to justify coming back? I see it as a personal choice. It’s probably not one I would make, but I also do not have the mindset to be an elite athlete, and Serena is a step above elite.
It’s exciting that she’s back on the court even if the playing wasn’t there yet.
Exactly. What a lucky day for the attendees. Seeing Serena play in person is so exciting even when she’s not having her best day.
The word “yet” is doing a LOT of work in this sentence.
The woman is 44 years old. This is a court sport. Speed and fast-twitch muscles are not going to develop the way they did in her 20’s and 30’s.
Look, I’m glad she played, for whatever reason she wanted to, she’s amazing and did so much for the sport. But there’s a point when your body just can’t do what it used to, and the young ones can.
Jais i kinda see this as her doing tennis a favor. Get some tourist to stop and watch and while thats going on the new guys highlights are playing in the corner. Cause the new crew havent mare me watch. I will watch cause i want to see tennis. Not cause i want to see them.
She can do whatever she pleases!
She earned it!
I’m not sure what Serena is seeking by coming back but hopefully she’ll get her answer after this tournament. I’m not surprised that she wasn’t running for some balls, GLP doesn’t build stamina and muscle strength gets diminished.
It was great seeing her back on the court. I missed those forehands and backhands. It just filled me with joy. I loved seeing her girls there, proud of their mama. That’s all that matters. She played well for someone who hasn’t played competitively in 4 years. Nothing to be ashamed of.
That’s my opinion also. She enjoyed herself and more importantly her daughters enjoyed watching their mother in a sport she once dominated in and apparently still loves.
As a local, I was wondering about her coming to DC, since Venus has in the past. Every year we consider getting tickets, but that tournament is always so miserably hot, there’s not much shade, and getting there is a massive pain, but I was contemplating getting something if I knew she was likely since the early round tickets are fairly reasonable (by professional sports ticket pricing).
I watched the match through my hands and found it very stressful. I was delighted to see her back but the sheer number of balls that just went straight past her and she made no effort to hit them back did not bode well. As for her serving, three double faults in a row?
I really do hope she got what she wants from this although it would be a shame if it rules her out of the doubles as (from a selfish perspective) that I’d love to watch.
I’m happy that she got a wildcard and was able to play singles. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t win but I don’t think she returned with the expectation to dominate like she did before retirement. I think this was more about showing and sharing this experience with her daughters and letting them see that there are no limits to what they can do. Tennis has been a major part of her life, the majority of her life, and I would imagine that as a parent she wanted her daughters to experience it firsthand by watching her in the stands. She injured herself during the first set, which can happen to anyone, even Serena during her prime. Injuries in sports aren’t uncommon and it’s not a reason that she shouldn’t have returned, neither is losing a match. The reason for the return was purely as a mother and she has done that and I’m happy for her and her daughters for this experience.
It’s a thrill that she’s competing, I’d never bet against her. I selfishly hope she sticks with it, that second set tiebreaker showed promise.