Serena Williams in doubt for doubles with sister Venus after knee injury in loss to Maya Joint
London: Serena Williams is in doubt of completing the double with her older sister Venus at Wimbledon as she deals with a knee injury following her defeat against Australia’s Maya Joint on Tuesday.
The 23-time grand slam champion and former world No. 1 fell short of victory in his highly-anticipated singles return, losing to 20-year-old Joint with scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 and 6-3 in a captivating contest in the midfield that brought him a standing ovation from the fans.
Williams, 44, took a break in the final set and the young Australian, who was ranked in the world’s top 30 before losing five of her last six games before suffering a back injury and subsequent loss of form, played the match of her short career.
Williams then caused a stir by releasing a statement rather than completing the mandatory post-match press conference, but her manager Jill Smoller explained the reason behind skipping media duties.
“Serena sprained her right knee at the end of the first set and was therefore released from media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams,” Smoller said.
“He left the court that night without assistance and is doing his best to be ready for this week’s doubles match.”
During the joint match, there were no visible signs that Williams, who started playing again almost four years after retiring at the 2022 US Open, was playing under pressure and at no stage did she request a medical timeout.
However, Wimbledon officials said she could not fulfill her media commitments and instead released a statement on Williams’ behalf, with Williams describing the atmosphere during the match as “fantastic”.
Williams’ failure to mention Joint in his statement also received criticism, but he corrected this by saying: An Instagram post on Wednesday.
“It’s such a great feeling to be back on the grass at Wimbledon. I’m incredibly grateful for the wildcard – and even more grateful for my daughters to see that it’s never too late to pursue something you love,” Williams said.
“I hurt my knee late in the first set, but I will do everything I can to be ready for doubles with Venus Williams. Congratulations to Maya Joint for a great match and thank you to everyone who came out and showed me so much love. This feeling will never get old.”
The Williams sisters, aged 90 in total, have won 14 grand slam doubles titles together, including three Olympic gold medals and six Wimbledon titles between 2000 and 2016.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Daria Kasatkina reached the round of 32 at Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year, entering the clash with four-time major champion Naomi Osaka with a roller-coaster 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4 victory over Indonesia’s Janice Tjen.
Kasatkina needed three match points and also had to overcome a comeback point in the final match to edge 42nd-seeded Tjen, who trailed 1-5 in the first-set tiebreak.
Kasatkina or one of the former world No.1 Osaka will reach the last 16 for the first time on grass courts.
“Obviously it’s a very tough draw and a very tough match, especially on grass and I’ve never beaten him before, so it’s not a perfect situation for me but at the same time there’s less pressure,” Kasatkina said.
“The way he plays is challenging on every surface, but I think it will be difficult on grass because he has very good serves, very good shots, he is always trying to attack.”
Alex de Minaur, James Duckworth, Joint and Kim Birrell are Australia’s other remaining hopes in the men’s and women’s singles.
Marc McGowan traveled to London with the support of Tennis Australia.
Watch Wimbledon every evening from 7.30pm (AEST) on Nine Network and Stan Sport.
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