Serena Williams made her long-awaited Wimbledon return yesterday evening.
Williams, a seven-time singles champion at the major event, was beaten in three sets by Australian youngster Maya Joint.
Joint, who had not won a WTA Tour-level match since January, defeated Serena 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 on Centre Court.
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It was an incredibly impressive performance by Williams, who had not competed in a WTA Tour match since the 2022 US Open.
One area of Serena’s game stood out in particular: her serve.
Serena Williams was averaging faster second serve speeds against Maya Joint than she did at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships
While Serena was trailing 3-4 in the first set, ESPN posted a graphic comparing Serena’s serve speeds during her match against Maya Joint compared to her average serve speeds at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.
At the 2016 event, Serena’s first-serve average was 109 miles per hour [mph].
On Tuesday, Serena was averaging a first-serve speed of 107 mph.
The second serve statistics are even more intriguing.
Serena was averaging a faster second-serve speed against Maya Joint than she averaged at the 2016 Championships.
The American superstar’s mean second-serve speed in 2016 was 87 mph – nine mph slower than her average at 3-4 in the first set on Tuesday.
It will be interesting to see whether Serena can maintain this second serve speed when she competes alongside her sister, Venus, in the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles event.
The duo, who have won six titles at the event, are set to play Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round.
However, their participation was left in jeopardy on Wednesday afternoon, as it was revealed that Serena suffered a knee injury during her match against Joint.
Serena Williams’ reaction to her Wimbledon defeat
Serena decided not to conduct her post-match media duties in the aftermath of her defeat to Joint.
Instead, the American star sent out the following message.
“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon,” she said in a statement.
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“I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing.
“I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”
Jill Smoller, Serena’s agent, confirmed the reason for her media absence.
“Serena tweaked her knee at the end of the first set and was therefore excused from her media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams,” the statement read.
“She left site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match.”
