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Serena Williams was defeated in her first singles match for a year on Tuesday, going down 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) to unseeded Harmony Tan in the first round of Wimbledon.
“For my first Wimbledon it’s wow — just wow,” said Tan.
Seven-time champion Williams was cheered as she walked onto Centre Court for the evening match, but she looked rusty and was broken in her first service game.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal overcame a huge scare to progress to the second round.
Elsewhere on day two of the Championships, title contender Matteo Berrettini was forced to pull out with coronavirus while women’s top seed Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 36 matches.
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Williams, far below her imperious best and apparently lacking fitness, bounced back, breaking in the fourth game to level at 2-2, buoyed by a supportive crowd at the All England Club.
The pair swapped further breaks but Tan, ranked 115th, broke again in the 11th game and held her nerve to close out the set 7-5.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, broke after a mammoth second game of the second set and went on to level the match 6-1.
The American was first to break in the decider but Tan levelled at 3-3. Williams broke again in the ninth game, throwing her arms into the air in jubilation but faltered as she served for the match.
She faced a match point on her own serve in the 12th game but saved it with a forehand volley, taking the contest into a third-set tie-break.
Williams stepped up a gear, winning the first four points as the match, under the Wimbledon roof, ticked past three hours.
But still her French opponent was not down and out, winning the next five points to edge ahead.
Williams, looking out of breath, could not find inspiration netting when facing a second match point.
“I’m so emotional now,” said Tan. “She’s a superstar. When I was young, I was watching her so many times on the TV.
“When I saw the draw, I was really scared. She’s such a legend. I thought if I can win one game, two games, that would be really good for me.”
Twelve months ago, Williams quit her Wimbledon first-round match in tears after suffering an injury and she had not played singles tennis since until Tuesday.
Doubts had been growing about whether the former world number one — who has slumped to 1,204th in the rankings after her period of inaction — would return to the sport.
But she warmed up by teaming up with Ons Jabeur in the doubles at Eastbourne last week.
Williams, 40, won the last of her seven Wimbledon singles titles six years ago but reached the final in 2018 and 2019.
The American, who was given a wildcard for this year’s tournament, remains stuck on 23 Grand Slam singles wins — agonisingly one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record.
NADAL DIGS DEEP
Earlier, an off-key Nadal, already halfway to a calendar Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open, dug deep to beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who has not played at the tournament since 2019, thanked the crowd for their wholehearted support.
“It’s not a surface that we play very often, and especially in my case, for different reasons, the past three years I didn’t put any foot on a grass court, so it always takes a while,” said Nadal, 36.
“It was my first match and as I know, every day is a test and today was one of these important tests.” The Spaniard appeared to be coasting to victory when he took a two-set lead but his Argentine opponent found a new level, winning the third set and going a break up early in the fourth.
But from 4-2 down the second seed found an extra gear, winning the next four games to seal the match in a little over three and a half hours, roared on by the Centre Court crowd.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion played the entire French Open with his troublesome left foot anaesthetised but he has received treatment since then and was moving well on Tuesday.
SIXTH SEED CRASHES OUT
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who took Nadal to five sets at the French Open, crashed out of the tournament at the hands of American Maxime Cressy.
The sixth seed lost 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/5), removing another potential obstacle in the path of Nadal, who next faces Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.
Men’s fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard in four sets.
RUNNER-UP PULLS OUT
The early action at the All England Club was overshadowed by the announcement from Berrettini — last year’s runner-up — that coronavirus had forced him out of the tournament.
“I am heartbroken to announce that I need to withdraw from @wimbledon due to a positive COVID-19 test result,” the 26-year-old Italian wrote on Instagram.
Berrettini was widely regarded as one of the biggest threats to defending champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, having captured back-to-back grass-court titles in Stuttgart and Queen’s.
He is the second man to withdraw from Wimbledon with Covid in two days after 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic of Croatia also tested positive. The Italian was a potential semi-final opponent for Nadal.
It is business as usual at the Grand Slam this year after the tournament was cancelled due to Covid in 2020 and last year was played in front of reduced crowds.
The All England Club said in a statement that protocols remained in place to minimise the risk of infection.
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SWIATEK EXTENDS STREAKS AS TOP WOMEN CRUISE
Poland’s world number one Swiatek, who has won her past six tournaments — coasted into the second round with a routine 6-0, 6-3 victory against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.
There were also straightforward wins in the women’s draw for 2019 champion Simona Halep and fourth seed Paula Badosa.
Beaten French Open finalist Coco Gauff, the 11th seed, recovered from losing the first set against Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
AUSSIE RESULTS
It was a tough day for Australians, with just one of four women claiming first-round victories.
Maddison Inglis, Daria Saville, and Astra Sharma all lost in three sets, but Ajla Tomljanovic beat Jil Teichmann in straight sets to keep our women’s singles hopes alive.
There was better news for the men, after Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios both earlier reached the second round.
Alex de Minaur got through in straight sets, while Jason Kubler beat local hope Daniel Evans also in straight sets, as did Jordan Thompson over Spaniard Roberto Carballes-Baena.
But it wasn’t such good news for the other Aussie men. John Millman lost in four sets, while Alexei Popyrin lost in five to Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
Yesterday, James Duckworth lost to Andy Murray in four.
