LONDON (AP) 鈥� tweaked her right knee in nearly four years but still hopes to play doubles with sister Venus, her agent said Wednesday.
The 44-year-old Williams did not ask for medical treatment during a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to 20-year-old of Australia in the first round on Tuesday.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion who won seven of her titles at Wimbledon, did not meet with media after the match.
鈥淪erena tweaked her right knee at the end of the first set and was therefore excused from her media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams,鈥� said Jill Smoller, Williams鈥� agent. 鈥淪he left site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match later this week.鈥�
, 鈥淚t felt so good to be back on the grass (at) Wimbledon. I鈥檓 incredibly thankful for the wild card 鈥� and even more grateful my daughters got to see that it鈥檚 never too late to chase something you love.
鈥淐ongratulations to Maya Joint on a great match, and thank you to everyone who showed up and showed me so much love. That feeling will never get old,鈥� Williams added.
Serena received wild card invitations from Wimbledon organizers to play both singles and doubles with Venus.
Serena has said that having off from school inspired her comeback and it marked the first time that her youngest daughter, Adira, who is almost three, saw her play singles. Adira sat next to her 8-year-old sister, Olympia in the front row of Serena鈥檚 players鈥� box.
Alexis Ohanian, Williams’ husband, wrote on social media: 鈥淥ur little family is so proud of you 鈥� even though it wasn鈥檛 the outcome you wanted, you鈥檙e an inspiration. We love you鈥� He added that the kids 鈥渁re also happy they got to stay up a bit past their bedtime.鈥�
Four-time Grand Slam champion also paid tribute to Serena and her sister on social media: 鈥淚 really wonder if Serena and Venus know how much they mean to us,鈥� Osaka posted.
Then after winning her second-round match Wednesday, Osaka discussed watching Serena play.
鈥淭he montages that they had before the match started made me really emotional because I feel like I鈥檝e watched her growing up,鈥� Osaka said. 鈥淣ow I feel like I鈥檓 grown up and I get the privilege of watching her again. So it was really cool.鈥�
Fellow American Tommy Paul watched, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty impressive at her age,鈥� Paul said. 鈥淪he was striking the ball pretty well, returning pretty well. I thought she was going to go after it a little bit more. … I think it would have helped her a lot to have maybe a match of singles before coming out to Wimbledon. But she鈥檚 Serena. She can do whatever she wants.鈥�
___
AP tennis:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
