Serena Williams remained tight-lipped on whether last night’s appearance at Wimbledon will be her last. The tennis legend fought valiantly in her first match in over a year, but just fell short in a near three-hour thriller against France’s Harmony Tan.
After saving a match point at 5-6 down, Williams levelled for 6-6 and opened up a 4-0 lead in the final set super tiebreak. But the 24-year-old fought back valiantly and rose to the occasion to make up the deficit and claim the tiebreak 10-7. Williams, 40, left the court to rapturous applause.
During her post-match press conference, she refused to give a straight answer regarding her future. “Like I said coming into this, I'm just planning for right now, seeing how I feel, just to go from there,” the 23-time grand slam champion said.
Pressed on whether it was her farewell to the All England Club, Williams added: “That's a question I can't answer. I don't know. Who knows? Who knows where I'll pop up. There’s definitely lots of motivation to play better and at home (the US Open).
“Physically I did pretty good. The last couple of points I was really suffering. If you are playing week in week out there’s a bit more match toughness. But I feel like in just those key points, winning some of those points, is always something mentally that you kind of need. I did pretty good on maybe one or two of them, but obviously not enough.”
Despite the 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7) defeat, Williams was proud of her performance and thoroughly enjoyed playing on centre court once again. She captured the emotions of how she felt with a short Instagram post.
“That was insane and intense,” the icon penned. “Not the result I came for, but my goodness I enjoyed that. I hope you did as well. Onward and up.” Williams is upbeat by the possibility she will play at the US Open, her home slam, where she captured the first of her major titles 23 years ago.
“It definitely makes me want to hit the practice courts,” she said. “I feel that it's actually kind of like, 'OK, Serena, you can do this if you want’. 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. There's definitely lots of motivation to get better and to play at home.”
Last night may not be the last time a member of the Williams family will be in action at Wimbledon this year as Venus Williams is keen to play mixed doubles with Jamie Murray and submitted a last minute application to enter the competition.
The 42-year-old American is a five-time singles champion at the All England Club and won the doubles with her sister Serena on six occasions, while Jamie Murray has won the mixed doubles title on two occasions. Their entry into the competition is expected to be confirmed today.
