‘I saw Serena Williams on Wimbledon practise courts – one thing stood out’ | Tennis | Sport

Serena Williams is back in the house – and you can tell. You don’t have to walk far around SW19 before you hear her name mentioned. The six-time Wimbledon winner will make her epic return here against Maya Joint on Centre Court on Tuesday.

That’s a sentence not many would’ve expected to see only five weeks ago. Even Serena, in her own words, said: “I never thought I would do this again.”

Many are glad that she has. After watching her practise here on Monday, it’s clear she’s not here just to make up the numbers, and why would she? At 44 years old, with a young family and plenty in the bank, some are wondering why now is the time she’s decided to return after four years in retirement.

It would take a brave person to stake too much on Williams, but I’ll tell you one thing: here on Monday, she looked far from a 44-year-old who has played just two double matches since the 2022 US Open.

After going through some stretching exercises with her training team for about 10 minutes, Williams finally stepped on the court with her two male hitting partners.

I was only there for 20 minutes, but in that time, Williams showed the whole array in her armoury. On Centre Court on Tuesday, there will obviously be more intensity and umph behind those forehands and backhands. Maya’s joints will be tested, that’s for certain.

But even at 40 per cent, it was, at times, too much for her hitting partners. She barely got out of second gear but was still great to watch, making it all look so effortless. At one point, she hit the deftest of drop shots. Her hitting partner scrambled to try and return it, but he needn’t bother.

One thing that really stood out – aside from the fact that she seemed very much at home back on the courts here – was the emphasis on volleys and her net play. For the majority of rallies I saw, she ended the point sprinting to the net to practise her volleys.

A couple found the net, but the majority were winners. It’ll be interesting to see if this front-footed approach will be on display on Tuesday. You can see the logic if that’s the thinking.

Joint made her debut here last year but failed to win her first-round match, and is only 20 years of age. There’s every chance she could get overwhelmed quickly if Williams comes firing out of the blocks.

Whatever happens, it’s just great to have the Wimbledon queen back for one last time.