Serena Williams called out for behaviour on social media by Wimbledon foe | Tennis | Sport

Serena Williams was called out in the midst of her Wimbledon return by Harmony Tan for allegedly blocking her on social media. The seven-time Wimbledon winner was knocked out by the Frenchwoman back in 2022 in three sets, and things are supposedly still tense between the pair.

The 44-year-old was busy fighting to make a winning return against an inspired Maya Joint when Tan took the opportunity to accuse Williams of holding grudges.

“So four years ago, after the handshake, she blocked me on Instagram also,” Tan posted on her social media, accompanied by a laughing face emoji and a screenshot that appeared to show proof that she’s not following her.

Tan had been the last person to defeat Williams at Wimbledon before Australian Joint clinched a memorable 3-6, 7-6, 3-6 win over the 23-time Grand Slam champion on Tuesday night. Tan, who is currently ranked 200th in the WTA rankings and failed to qualify for Wimbledon this year, defeated Williams 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7) in a massive upset back in 2022.

The win was the biggest result of her career in what was her first Wimbledon main-draw appearance and had been Williams’ last at the All England Club before accepting a wildcard entry into this year’s tournament.

Unfortunately for Williams, it was a similar story to 2022, as she exited in the first round, losing in three sets to 20-year-old Joint.

Williams had threatened to stage a remarkable fightback after claiming the second set in a tie-breaker to level things up, but ran out of steam at the end as the younger player took over.

A stunned Joint told Centre Court afterwards: “I don’t know what just happened. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up to 2am thinking about it. Walking out, I forgot the warm-up, I don’t know what happened. My legs weren’t moving.

“I got a pretty good start in the match. She has such an aura, she is such a legend. So many huge names have played on this court. I have been dreaming of this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.

“I tried to come out to this court and play a match against her – the start was very nerve-wracking and to finish it off was special. She lifted her level and played some really great tennis.”

Before the match, Williams walked out to a standing ovation, while her box was packed full with supporters, including her two daughters, Alexis Olympia, eight, and Adira River, two.

However, the American’s youngest daughter, Adira, was not allowed to stay in the box for the match, as the All England Club has a strict age limit that requires children to be at least five years old to watch a match.

Olympia was, however, allowed to stay and sat next to her father, Alexis Ohanian, who did his best to push Williams on to victory with a supportive post on social media during her match.

It remains to be seen if this will be Williams’ last ever appearance in the singles, but she will be back out at SW19, having signed up for the doubles with her seven-time singles Grand Slam winner sister, Venus.