Serena Williams out of Wimbledon as Kwon Soon-woo prepares for doubles

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Published: 29 Jun. 2022, 15:53

Serena Williams out of Wimbledon as Kwon Soon-woo prepares for doubles

Serena Willams of the United States serves during her first round match against France's Harmony Tan at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Harmony Tan of France, right, shakes hands at the net with Serena Williams of the United States after winning their women's first round match at Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Twenty-three-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams fell out of the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday, her hunt for an all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles coming to an abrupt halt.

Williams holds the second-most Grand Slam titles ever across all genders, having won seven Australian Open titles, three French Open titles, six U.S. Open titles and seven Wimbledon titles, for a total of 23. Margaret Court of Australia has the most Grand Slam titles at 24, one more than Williams.

What was meant to be the 40-year-old legend’s grand return, playing her first singles match in a year, fell apart in the opening round against No. 115 Harmony Tan of France, who beat Williams two sets to one.

Despite having fallen behind 4-2 in the first set, Tan broke Williams’ serve in the seventh game after four deuces, and that seemed to give the French player the momentum needed to break Williams again in the 11th game and take the first set 7-5 after an hour and four minutes.

But Williams was not one to give up easily. In the second set, after winning her serve game, she broke Tan’s first serve after 11 deuces, then also broke Tan's next serve after three deuces, seemingly throwing the French player off balance. The second set finished 6-1.

In the third set, after each winning their first serve games, Williams was the first one to break Tan in game three after a deuce. Tan did not back down, however, breaking Williams’ serve in game six and the two were tied 3-3.

Both players kept winning their serves until the scoreboard read 6-6, when it came down to the last 10-point tie break to decide who was to advance to the next stage of Wimbledon.

Starting from Roland-Garros last month, all four Grand Slams — the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open — have implemented a new rule, jointly agreeing to play a 10-point tie-break when the score reaches six games in the final set.

In the tie-breaker, Williams first took a 4-1 lead, but Tan was eager to prolong her Wimbledon debut, striking back and catching up to tie the score at 4-4.

After once again tying at 6-6, Tan was the one to emerge victorious. At 8-7, Williams lost the last two points with an unforced forehand error, losing her chance to hunt for her 24th Grand Slam title after a grueling three hours and 11 minutes, the longest match played in the first round of the women’s singles competition at Wimbledon this year.

“It’s definitely better than last year,” Williams said on Tuesday after the match. “That’s a start.”

Since withdrawing from the first-round of Wimbledon last year due to an injury, this was the first time the American had played a singles match.

Last week, Williams played women’s doubles matches with Ons Jabeur at the Eastbourne International as a tune-up for Wimbledon.

“If you’re playing week in, week out, or even every three weeks, every four weeks, there’s a little bit more match toughness,” Williams said.

“But with that being said, I felt like I played pretty OK on some of ‘em. Not all of ’em. Maybe some key ones I definitely could have played better. You’ve got to think if I were playing matches, I wouldn’t miss some of those points.”

Despite the opening-round loss after overcoming an injury and training all year to come back on the All England Lawn grass, the 40-year-old legend has not yet expressed any intention of retiring.

“That’s a question I can’t answer,” she said. “I don’t know... Who knows? Who knows where I’ll pop up?”

Harmony Tan celebrates after scoring against Serena Williams during the women's singles first round match at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

For Tan, prevailing after more than three hours and beating her childhood idol was a dream come true.

“For my first Wimbledon, it’s: Wow. Just wow,” said Tan. “When I saw the draw, I was really scared, because it’s Serena Williams. She’s a legend. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, how can I play?’”

Tan will next face No. 32 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain on Thursday.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic greets Kwon Soon-woo, right, at the net after winning their men's first round singles match on day one of Wimbledon on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates scoring against Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina during the men's singles first round match at Wimbledon on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

In the men’s singles, the top two contenders for the trophy, top seed and 20-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic of Serbia and 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal have now sailed past the first round, though not as smoothly as they would have expected in the opening rounds.

At Centre Court on Monday, Djokovic beat Korea's Kwon Soon-woo after four sets and two hours and 27 minutes, with the Korean putting up a good fight and robbing Djokovic of the expected easy three-set victory.

No. 81 Kwon was able to put pressure on the top seed, winning the second set 6-3 on Monday, breaking the Serbian’s second serve game without conceding any points.

On Tuesday, Nadal came on Centre Court against No. 41 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina for his opening match that lasted even longer, three hours and 33 minutes, marking the second-longest match of the men’s singles first round that day. With the Argentinian winning the third set against Nadal, Nadal won the match 3-1.

Despite Kwon falling out of the men’s singles at Wimbledon, he will now pair up with Aljaz Bedene of Slovania to play the first round of the men's doubles competition on Thursday against Australian pair Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]