Serena Williams‘ long return to Wimbledon didn’t quite go as she would have wanted. The 44-year-old recorded a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 defeat to Maya Joint in the first round. This is only the third time that Serena has gotten eliminated in the opening round of the SW19. But she can hold her head up high, as the performance that she gave was simply sensational.

The first set proved to be pretty straightforward as one break of serve was enough for Joint to clinch it. However, the second one was nothing short of a rollercoaster. Both players broke each other’s serves twice as Serena found her rhythm. She put in a monumental effort to drag the set into a tiebreaker and went on to clinch it 8-6. But Joint proved to be just too good in the decider.

Serena had initially grabbed the advantage after breaking the serve early to take a 2-1 lead. Joint responded to this by winning the next four games in a row to take a healthy 5-2 lead. Serena held her serve and then tried her level-best to get that crucial break. Though she was able to drag the game to deuce, she wasn’t able to stop Joint from eventually clinching the game, set and the match.

Despite ending up on the losing side, there are a number of positives that Serena can take from this match. Despite losing her serve on five occasions and committing seven double-faults, the American also fired seven lightning-fast aces. One of her serves clocked in at 122 m/ph and came when Joint had match-point in the second set.

The veteran’s shot-making was quite impressive as well and she hit a total of 26 winners during the match. Her net-play was also fantastic as she won 82% of the points in that area. But the credit has to be given to Joint as well as she managed to weather the storm and left Serena chasing in the final set.

The Australian hit 40 winners in total and was also strong on her serve for the majority of the match. However, she wouldn’t be happy with the number of unforced errors that she committed, especially during the second set. Joint finished the match with 37 unforced errors, the same as Serena.

Regardless, it was still a phenomenal display from Joint and this is arguably the biggest win of her career so far. Having gotten knocked out in Wimbledon’s first round last year, this was a much-needed win for her.

Notably, Joint’s last victory on a WTA 250, 500 or 1000 event had come all the way back at the Adelaide International in January where she had reached the quarterfinals. This run of form had severely affected her ranking and she had gone down 34 places to No. 87 in the latest update.

Reflecting on the win over Serena, Joint highlighted how nervous she was while making her way to the Center Court.

Maya Joint left searching for words after triumph over Serena Williams

“I really don’t know what to say right now. I don’t know what just happened, to be honest,” she said during her post-match interview. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up till like 2am just thinking about it. Walking out, I forgot the warm-up. My legs weren’t moving.”

Having made her lifelong dream come true, Joint was well aware how much this result meant for her. But she didn’t forget to shower praise on Serena, who gave a commendable effort despite playing her first singles match in four years.

“She has such an aura. She’s such a legend, and this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy. I think just trying to come out on court and play a match against her. The start was very nerve-wracking and then trying to finish out the match as well. She definitely lifted her level and she played some really great tennis there,” she added.

Joint has now advanced to the second round of the SW19 where she will be locking horns against Alexandra Eala. The two have only met on a single occasion so far and that meeting had come in the final of last year’s Eastbourne Open. Joint had claimed a hard-fought 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 win on that occasion and will be aiming to rack up another positive result against the Filipino.

On the other hand, Serena’s challenge at Wimbledon isn’t over yet despite the defeat to Joint. She will now be shifting her focus to the doubles draw where she will be teaming up with her sister, Venus Williams. The two are scheduled to be in action on Thursday as they tackle the duo of Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in the first round.