Tan: “I was scared on the pitch”
Despite her routine, Williams was unable to prevent her third defeat in a Grand Slam opening game against the Wimbledon debutant. Cheered on by sister Venus and her mother, the American lacked match practice and liveliness at the beginning. Williams had only played competitive games in doubles. The seven-time Wimbledon champion wanted to keep the rallies short and celebrated point wins with loud screams. The world number 115. Tan used stops to let Williams run.
Tan won the first set with a passing ball, Williams looked helpless after 64 minutes. Williams used the time when the folding roof was closed over the arena to go into the catacombs. When she returned, she received encouraging applause. The error rate fell, the precision increased. The second set was closer than the 6-1 score. In the decisive round, Williams fended off a match point at 5: 6 and his own serve. In the tie break she was already 4:0 ahead and lost.
“It’s a dream for me. I watched Serena on TV when I was young,” Tan gushed after her win. “I was scared on the pitch but I was pretty happy in the end.”
Williams leaves the future open
At Wimbledon, she initially left open whether Serena would continue her comeback, which she allegedly decided only a few weeks ago, on the tennis tour. When asked if the three-set loss to the French was her last singles match, Williams replied, “I don’t know. Who can know? Who knows where I’ll show up?”
Possibly at the US Open (from August 29th), her home Grand Slam and the place where she won her first of 23 major titles. “It’s always something very special. There’s definitely a lot of motivation to get better and play at home,” said the 40-year-old, who made her comeback at Wimbledon after a year’s injury break.