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.