There are few things in this world that Serena Williams has enjoyed more than one comeback throughout her career. She underwent knee surgery in 2003, but a year after her return she was again Grand Slam champion.
After reaching the 2007 Australian Open in 81st place, he left with the title. He nearly died of a pulmonary embolism in 2011, but returned to work to enjoy his best years. In 2017, he survived a life-threatening birth, but recovered to reach four Grand Slam finals. Throughout her 27 years as a professional tennis player, Williams has seen rising and falling generations, with most of her contemporaries more than a decade into retirement. But the time has come for all of us, and in a torrid evening on the center court he showed the challenge he faces in the last chapter of his career.
After breaking a hamstring in a fall at Center Court last year and not playing another singles match for 52 weeks, on Tuesday he brought his singles back to the same spot. Rusty and unreliable in front of a player who gave him none, Williams recovered from a set down and struggled with his heart before falling in the first round by 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7 ) in front of the French Harmony Tan.
In terms of classification and experience, the number 115 Tan was one of the best drawings Williams could have received. But Tan is a tricky player with a deep box of shots, slices, and assorted twists, and while Williams tried to find her rank after a one-year layoff, she raised her level and offered no Rhythm.
“When I saw the draw, I was very scared,” Tan said afterwards. “Because she is Serena Williams, she is a legend. I was like, oh my God. How can I play? If I could win a game, or two, that’s very good for me.
Despite struggling at first, Williams led 4-2, 40-15 in the first set and looked like he had taken control. Instead, Tan continued to work with Williams with shots and cuts from both wings, forcing her to move forward and bend her knees, stopping her pace. He took the set by dragging Williams forward and tipping a right-footed shot winner.
As Williams boiled, the roof closed over the center court. He broke the serve 2-0 after a seemingly endless 20-minute game with Tan serving that required seven break points and was comically sealed with a high, sticky setback that caused a right-hander. of Tan.
With the break assured, Williams seemed to settle. His service began firing as he dictated from the top of the baseline instead of chasing the Tan portion. But first she lost her 3-1 lead, then she served for the match and Tan fought her with a backhand shot.
When Tan advanced 6-5 with a shot winner, Williams served to stay in the game and fought hard, bravely saving a game point with a live volley winner while the audience on the court central roared as loud as he ever did for his party. seven times champion. But with so few games behind her, Williams wavered in the tough times while Tan remained solid as a rock in the decisive tiebreaker.
Harmony Tan celebrates after his victory. Photography: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian
“Today I gave everything I could do,” Williams said. “It simply came to our notice then. Maybe a week ago I could have given more. But today was what I could do. At some point you have to be able to be okay with that. And that’s all I can do. “
Williams was then asked if he would return to Wimbledon, a question to which he had no answer. “That’s a question I can’t answer,” he said. “Like, I don’t know. Who knows? Who knows where he’ll show up.”
Despite her uncertainty, Williams said a landslide defeat in her first game motivated her to return to the training ground and improve for the U.S. Open. “It definitely makes me want to go to the training grounds because when you’re playing it’s not bad and you’re so close. Like I said, any other rival would probably have adapted better to my game. So yeah, I think it’s actually a bit like, “Okay, Serena, you can do this if you want.”
In his press conferences over the past week, he has insisted he has no exact idea how long he intends to be out here.
She now runs a venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, which takes up an immense amount of time. He said he has put his message off for a few weeks, but will return later.
Serena Williams fought from a set to force an exciting tiebreaker in the third. Photography: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian
He has assured that she will be stimulated when her career is finally over. But there’s nothing like going to the center court and finding the way and the will to drag the best tennis of her own, and so she keeps coming back.
The question after his loss is what exactly he wants and whether this new comeback will be a farewell to Wimbledon.