London: Playing her first singles match for a year after injury, Serena Williams’ opening-round Wimbledon loss to Harmony Tan on Tuesday was hardly her most unexpected defeat, but there were plenty of signs it could be the most portentous yet.
Of course nobody goes on for ever, not even Williams who has performed numerous near miracles throughout a career spanning three decades.
Still, it made for uncomfortable viewing seeing the rusty seven-time champion a faded shadow of the player who has won 23 grand slam singles crowns.
Williams exited a major in the first round for only the third time in 80 appearances (the previous were a loss at the 2012 French Open and her mid-match retirement at Wimbledon last year against Aliaksandra Sasnovich).
For having long made a habit of seeing off lesser mortals while cruising at barely half pace, on Tuesday there seemed nothing to dig into, no extra gear, nor any aura to lend an advantage.
Instead she brandished blunted tools and slumped to a three-set defeat before contemplating her future.
Serena Williams lost in the first round at Wimbledon.Credit:AP
“That’s a question I can’t answer,” the 40-year-old said when asked if she would return to Wimbledon. “Like, I don’t know. I feel like, you know, I don’t know. Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up.
“Today I gave all I could do … Maybe tomorrow I could have gave more. Maybe a week ago I could have gave more. But today was what I could do. At some point you have to be able to be OK with that.
“And that’s all I can do. I can’t change time or anything, so …”
It is always going to be tough for Williams to walk away from the sport she has dominated. And despite falling short on her return to singles action here, she seems motivated to keep going, keeping the door open for an emotional return to New York for the US Open in August.
“It definitely makes me want to hit the practice courts because, you know, when you’re playing not bad, and you’re so close,” she said, seeking something positive from a bad day.
“Like I said, any other opponent probably would have suited my game better. So, yeah, I feel like that it’s actually kind of like, OK, Serena, you can do this if you want.
“Yeah, I mean, when you’re at home, especially in New York, and the US Open, that being the first place I’ve won a grand slam, is something that’s always super special. Your first time is always special. There’s definitely, you know, lots of motivation to get better and to play at home.”
Williams has spent more than 300 weeks ranked No.1 but currently is 1204th after her time off and thus needed a wildcard invitation from the All England club.
“If you’re playing week in, week out, or even every three weeks, every four weeks, there’s a little bit more match toughness,” she said.
“But with that being said, I felt like I played pretty OK on some of ’em. Not all of ’em. Maybe some key ones I definitely could have played better. You’ve got to think if I were playing matches, I wouldn’t miss some of those points.”
At crunch time, when Williams has excelled so often on so many big stages, she faltered. Williams went through every emotion in three hours and 11 minutes of drama and put her fans through the wringer too.
But eventually, a lack of match sharpness proved too much as another quest for a 24th grand slam title hit the buffers and the question is: Will she ever get another chance?
Reuters, AP
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