
(June 28, 2022) Serena Williams is out of Wimbledon, losing to No. 115 in the world Harmony Tan of France 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) in a match that lasted over three hours. The 23-time major winner Williams last played a match a year ago when she was forced to retire in the first round Wimbledon with a right foot injury.
“It’s definitely better than last year,” Williams said. “That’s a start.”
Asked if this was the last match, the 40-year-old said: ““That’s a question I can’t answer. I don’t know…who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up?”
“Like I said coming into this, I’m just planning for right now, seeing how I feel, just to go from there.”
As for the 24-year-old Tan, it’s the biggest win of her career, playing in her first Wimbledon and against Williams, whom she called “a legend.”
“For my first Wimbledon, it’s: Wow. Just wow,” said Tan.
“When I saw the draw, I was really scared,” Tan said to media, “because it’s Serena Williams. She’s a legend. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, how can I play?’”
Williams was two points away from the win, serving at 5-4 in the third set but could not close it out.
“It was definitely a very long battle and fight,” Williams said of the three-hour and 11-minute match. “It’s definitely better than last year, that’s a start.
“I think physically I did pretty good. … I feel like in just those key points, winning some of those points, is always something mentally that you have to have, that you kind of need. I did pretty good on maybe one or two of ’em, but obviously not enough.
“Today I gave all I could do, you know, today. 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 okay with that. And that’s all I can do.”
More to follow….