Serena brushes off retirement talk despite Wimbledon defeat

AFP

London, June 30 : Serena Williams brushed off any talk of retirement on Tuesday by insisting she is "motivated" to play at the US Open later this year despite a shattering Wimbledon defeat.

"The US Open was the place where I won my first Slam, it's super-special. There's definitely a lot of motivation to get better and play at home," the 40-year-old American said.

Williams was speaking after losing in her first singles match for a year when she went down 7-5, 1-6, 7/6 (10/7) to unseeded Harmony Tan, the world number 115, in the opening round of Wimbledon. It was also her first singles encounter since an injury forced her out of her first-round match at Wimbledon last year.

The 23-time major winner, who debuted at the All England Club in 1998, refused to speculate on whether or not she will be back at Wimbledon in 2023.

"I am just playing for right now. I see how I feel and go from there. "Who knows where I will pop up."

Williams, 40, won the last of her Wimbledon singles titles six years ago but reached the final in 2018 and 2019.

"I'm so emotional now," said Tan. "She's a superstar. When I was young, I was watching her so many times on the TV. "For my first Wimbledon, it's wow -- just wow.

"When I saw the drawing, I was really scared. She's such a legend. I thought if I can win one game, two games, that would be really good for me."

Earlier, an off-key Nadal, already halfway to a calendar Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open, dug deep to beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

The two-time Wimbledon champion, who has not played at the tournament since 2019, thanked the crowd for their wholehearted support.

"It's not a surface that we play very often, and especially in my case, for different reasons, the past three years I didn't put any foot on a grass court, so it always takes a while," said Nadal, 36.

"It was my first match and as I know, every day is a test and today was one of these important tests."

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, who took Nadal to five sets at the French Open, crashed out of the tournament at the hands of American Maxime Cressy.

The sixth seed lost 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/5), removing another potential obstacle in the path of Nadal, who next faces Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis.

Men's fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard in four sets.

Poland's world number one Swiatek, who has won her past six tournaments -- coasted into the second round with a routine 6-0, 6-3 victory against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.

There were also straightforward wins in the women's draw for 2019 champion Simona Halep and fourth seed Paula Badosa.

Beaten French Open finalist Coco Gauff, the 11th seed, recovered from losing the first set against Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse to win 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.