Harmony Tan pulled the plug on the Serena Williams Wimbledon show in the first round with a stunning 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7) victory over the 23-time Grand Slam Champion on Tuesday at the All England Club in London.
Tan, ranked 115th in the world, played a more complete match than Williams and was stronger in the tiebreaker, scoring 10 of the final 13 points to finish the biggest victory of her career.
The 24-year-old Frenchwoman was playing in the first Wimbledon match of her career. She was more fit than the 40-year-old Williams, who occasionally struggled physically in the marathon match of three hours and 11 minutes.
Williams hit 61 winners but committed 54 unforced errors while playing in her first singles match in 364 days. Her last one also was at Wimbledon when she had to retire against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus after injuring a hamstring.
Williams’ most-recent Grand Slam title came in the 2017 Australian Open when she defeated her sister, Venus. Margaret Court holds the record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Williams staved off a match point in the third set and won the first four points of the tiebreaker before Tan dominated the final stretch.
Tan had 29 points and 28 unforced errors.
–Field Level Media