In her 27 years as a professional tennis player, Williams has seen generations rise and fall, with most of her contemporaries retiring for more than a decade. But the time is coming for all of us, and on a rainy night in downtown Court she showed the challenge she faced in the last chapter of her career. After rupturing her hind thigh in a fall at Center Court last year and then not playing another match for just 52 weeks, on Tuesday she made her single return to the same venue. Rusty and unsure of a player who gave her none, Williams came together after a set and fought with her heart before falling in the first round 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7) by the Frenchman. Harmony Tan. In terms of ranking and experience, the No. 115 Tan in the world was one of the best draws Williams could win. But Tan is a tough player with a deep toolbox of a variety of shots, slices and spins, and as Williams struggled to find her range after a year of dismissal, she raised her level and offered no rhythm at all. “When I saw the draw, I was really scared,” Tan said. “Because she is Serena Williams, she is a legend. I was like, my God. How can I play? “If I could win a game or two, it’s very good for me.” Despite struggling early, Williams led 4-2, 40-15 in the first set and seemed to have taken control. Tan, on the other hand, continued to work with Williams with drop shots and slices from both wings, forcing her to move forward and bend her knees, interrupting her pace. He took the set, dragging Williams forward and twisting a winner for forward. As Williams boiled, the roof closed over Center Court. He broke the serve for 2-0 after a seemingly endless 20-minute game on Tan’s serve that required seven break points and was comically sealed with a loud, noisy backhand that caused a broken forehand by Tan. With the interruption secured, Williams appeared to be settling down. Her serve started beating as she dictated from the baseline instead of chasing Tan’s slice. But first she lost the lead with 3-1, then she served for the match and Tan wrestled it over her with a backhand shot. As Tan led 6-5 with a drop-shot winner, Williams served to stay in the match and fought hard, boldly saving a match points with a forehand drive volleyball winner as the Center Court crowd roared as loudly as ever for seven-time champion. But with so few games behind her, Williams faltered in the tight moments as Tan remained steadfast in the decisive tiebreak. Harmony Tan celebrates after her victory. Photo: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian “Today I gave what I could do,” Williams said. “Maybe tomorrow I could have given more. Maybe a week ago I could have given more. But today was what I could do. At some point you need to be able to be okay with that. And that’s all I can do. “ Williams was asked if she would return to Wimbledon, an unanswered question. “This is a question I can not answer,” he said. “Well, I do not know. Who knows? “Who knows where I will be.” Despite her uncertainty, Williams said a tight defeat in her first bout back motivated her to return to the field and improve for the upcoming US Open. “It definitely makes me want to go to the training grounds because when you play he is not bad and you are so close. Like I said, any other opponent would probably fit my game better. So, yes, I realize I’m the billionth person to make that joke. In press conferences last week, she insisted she had no idea how long she intended to continue. He runs a venture capital company now, Serena Ventures, which takes a lot of time. He said he has been leaving the message outside the office for a few weeks, but will return later. Serena Williams countered from one set to make an exciting tiebreak in the third. Photo: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian She has secured that she will be stimulated when her career is finally over. But there is nothing like going out to the Center and finding a way and the will to bring out the best tennis in herself, and so she keeps coming back. The question after her defeat is what exactly she wants and if this new return will prove to be a farewell to Wimbledon.
