Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon and makes a stunning return to singles action at the age of 44 after a nightmare day for British players at the Championships.
Williams will play Australia’s Maya Joint in her first singles match since the 2022 US Open, having only returned to the sport earlier this month and playing two doubles matches.
The 23-time grand slam champion and mother of two admitted she will be “nervous” as she makes her long-awaited return, and said she will have “no expectations” when she plays the world No 53.
Elsewhere, wildcard Katie Swan sealed the first win for a British player of this year’s Championships after a devastating opening day on Monday. Jack Draper followed Emma Raducanu in withdrawing due to injury, before Cameron Norrie was one of 10 British players to lose in round one.
Follow latest scores and updates from Wimbledon, below:
Arthur Fery levels against steamy Damir Dzumhur
Arthur Fery levels the match against Damir Dzumhur, who is losing his temper at umpire Greg Allensworth and has called the supervisor to complain about his officiating.
That’s a good sign for wildcard Fery, who lost the opening set 6-3 but has won the second 6-2 against the Bosnian.
Iga Swiatek in control
After a wobble on serve, when she fought back from 15-40 down and through multiple deuces to hold for 1-1, defending champion Iga Swiatek is in cruise control against Taylor Townsend.
She wins the opening set 6-1 on Centre Court.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek in action
As is tradition, defending champion Iga Swiatek is beginning her campaign and opening play on Centre Court for the day.
She plays American Taylor Townsend.
Katie Swan almost quit tennis — she’s now Britain’s first Wimbledon winner
After battling back from the brink of quitting tennis, Katie Swan became Britain’s unlikely first winner of this year’s Wimbledon after beating Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the second round.
After converting her fifth match point, the 27-year-old Swan fell to her knees and held her head in her hands while Court 16 erupted into cheers. After Katie Boulter added to the 10 British defeats on Monday, Swan, the world No 196, is the first player through to the second round.
Around the grounds
Sixth seed Taylor Fritz leads lucky loser Dusan Lajovic – who took Jack Draper’s spot in the draw after his withdrawal – 3-2 over on Court No 1.
Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen has taken the first set 6-4 off Ben Shelton, but the fourth seed is fighting back and leads 3-0 in the second.
And Jasmine Paolini has recovered from her first-set bagelling to loevel proceedings against qualifier Robin Montgomery; the Italian leads 6-5 in the decider.
Why Wimbledon is falling behind in the grand slam arms race
The All England Club continues to face legal hurdles in its bid to expand its grounds to Wimbledon Park, while the other major events flaunt their capacity to turn tournaments into ‘three-week’ events
How Amanda Anisimova’s recovery from Wimbledon final catastrophe can push her to new heights
Her march through the draw at last year’s tournament to her first major final was hugely impressive. The final itself, a 6-0 6-0 drubbing by Iga Swiatek, the first of that scoreline at Wimbledon in over a century, was neatly summed up by her then coach as “the worst off day we have ever experienced”.
That tragic, terrible day at the office was soon forgotten, however. Six weeks later, the American avenged it by defeating Swiatek at the US Open and made it back to a grand slam final.
Around the grounds
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova beat Lina Gjorcheska 6-3 6-2 in a little over an hour; Maria Sakkari has seen off 24th seed Clara Tauson 6-3 6-3, and another former finalist, Karolina Pliskova, has beaten fellow Czech Tereza Valentova 6-3 6-4.
Britain’s Harry Wendelken has dropped the second set against Valentin Royer after winning the first and it’s on serve at 1-1 in the third.
Wimbledon Brit tracker: Follow the progress of the 21 players in the singles draws
British players suffered a wipeout on an awful first day at Wimbledon, with all 10 home players who completed their matches on Monday beaten to add to Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu pulling out injured.
Katie Boulter has already joined their number but there are eight more Brits in action on day two.
Katie Swan wins on Wimbledon return
In much happier news, Katie Swan, returning to Wimbledon after three years away and a career ravaged by injuries, has notched the first win for a British player of this Championships!
The 27-year-old won 6-4 6-4 over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and was the picture of joy as she celebrated with her team.
