Aussie Maya Joint takes on Serena Williams at Wimbledon

Williams, 44, was granted a surprise wildcard to contest singles at Wimbledon, her first grand slam match in four years, and her first round match against Joint was the headline act to start the tournament.

Joint has struggled to win matches on tour this year but she did not look overawed as she took the court with virtually the entire crowd cheering for her opponent. The Aussie claimed the first set 6-3 in 35 minutes.

The 20-year-old, served first and made an assured start to the match, which began at 7.30pm local time with the roof closed after Alexander Zverev’s four-set win ran longer than expected.

Williams was a tad rusty and she doesn’t cover the court as well as she once did, but her blistering serves and return games are still world class.

The 23-time grand slam champion fired down a 197km/h serve and a 169km/h second serve in the first set.

Joint, who was born in the United States but is now based in Brisbane, traded groundstrokes from the baseline in a fierce rally in early in the match, with a crosscourt backhand from Williams going wide.

Joint forced an error in the eighth game to break serve and claim a 5-3 lead.

The crowd oohed when Williams produced a lob winner, gasped when she double faulted and chuckled when she waved her hands asking for a ball from the ball kids at one stage.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion screamed when she saved a break point, and let out a guttural roar when she leant on a forehand return and landed a clean winner.

She looked like a mere mortal at times with unforced errors she wouldn’t have made a decade ago, and was uncomfortable when Joint got her on the run.

Serena sends it to a decider (06:24am)

All of a sudden we have a match on our hands.

Serena Williams has fought back to take the second set 7-6, blowing the roof off Wimbledon’s Centre Court as she won a nervy tiebreak to send the match to a deciding third set.

Joint broke serve early in the second set before Williams fought back as each game turned into a tennis rollercoaster.

Just it looked like Joint might run away with it, the crowd erupted when a forehand passing shot caught the line and Williams unleashed a vintage backhand to break serve.

Williams showed all her years of experience to hold her nerve in the tiebreak.

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