Serena Williams Falls to Maya Joint in Wimbledon First Round

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, playing her first singles match at Wimbledon in four years, was defeated by 20-year-old Maya Joint in a three-set thriller on Centre Court.

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams, 44, lost to Maya Joint, 20, in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. The final score was 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3. The match took place on Centre Court, starting around 7:30 p.m. local time.

Match Details

• Williams saved a match point in the second-set tiebreak before winning the set.
• She broke Joint's serve at the start of the third set to lead 2-1.
• Joint broke back twice to lead 5-2.
• Williams held serve to stay in the match at 5-3.
• Joint converted her third match point to win the final set 6-3.

The match was Williams' first singles match at Wimbledon in four years. She is the second-oldest woman to play a singles match at Wimbledon in the open era. Joint had lost her previous 11 tour-level matches before this win and is currently ranked world No. 87.

Background

Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and seven-time Wimbledon singles champion. Her last singles match prior to this was at Wimbledon 2021, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanović.

Williams did not attend the mandatory post-match press conference. She is scheduled to play doubles at Wimbledon with her sister Venus Williams.

Statements

"I didn't get much sleep last night. I was up to 2am thinking about it. Walking out, I forgot the warm-up, I don't know what happened. My legs weren't moving."
— Maya Joint

"She has such an aura, she is such a legend. So many huge names have played on this court. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy."
— Maya Joint

Williams has not commented on her future singles plans.