The words are Shakespeare’s, but the sentiment belonged firmly to Serena Williams on Tuesday night, at least from the perspective of an adoring Centre Court crowd. They were there to witness the second coming of a sporting legend and, hanging on her every move, they got what they came for.

Some may have feared that Williams, 44 years old and playing her first singles match since 2022, might suffer a mauling at the hands of Maya Joint, an opponent who was not even born when the American won the first half dozen of her 23 grand slam singles titles. They needn’t have worried; Serena Williams was unmistakably Serena Williams. 

The aura of old remained intact, and may even have been magnified by her lengthy absence. Her serve, once the most feared shot in the women’s game, was as silken as ever – and, once she had worked through the gears, barely less destructive in its force and accuracy. Williams can still crush a groundstroke with the best of them, certainly when the ball is in her wheelhouse, and neither has time diminished the mental intensity that made her the finest competitor of her generation. 

Whatever has been lost over the past four years – a period in which she has welcomed a second daughter into the world, devoted more time to her business interests and become a figurehead for the efficacy of GLP-1 weight-loss medications – Williams remains a formidable competitor.

How the second coming of Serena Williams gathered momentum

Understandably, it took time for her to rouse herself, to shake off the rust of competitive inertia. Yet the mentality of a champion is the last thing to go. Williams demonstrated as much when she stood within a point of a straight-sets defeat. Had she folded in that instant, had she failed to meet the moment with the spirit of old, few would have blamed her. She had produced a decent performance. She had kept things close and made a match of it.

But that is not the kind of thinking that wins you seven Wimbledon titles, and Williams’ refusal to go quietly offered an emphatic response to the myopic minority who questioned whether she was worthy of a place in the draw. 

As she threw down two big serves, the second an unreturnable 122mph delivery that brought up a set point of her own, it was hard to believe this was the same woman who only a few months ago posted a video of herself serving for the first time since February 2023. And as Williams won the next point, patiently outrallying Joint to level the match – who said she couldn’t run? – her reaction spoke of expectation rather than serendipity. There was no bellicose explosion of emotion, no roaring or histrionics. Instead, a silent raised fist acknowledged a job well done, while an impassive expression signalled that more work remained.

Criticism of Serena Williams’s return – and why it was misplaced

For some, though, all that mattered was her inability to complete the task. Williams’ 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 defeat merely confirmed what these well-informed knew all along: that the sport has moved on in her absence. That the rank and file now wield just as much power as Williams from the baseline, and will no longer be intimidated by her game. That she has lost half a step, either struggling to get into the corners or failing to summon her former weight of shot once there. A few went even further. Williams’s decision to return to the competitive fray on one of the sport’s biggest stages without playing a warm-up event was an insult to the tournament, it was said; as such, she got what she deserved. So the arguments ran.

Such analysis vastly underplays the difficulty of competing on a grass court, let alone an indoor grass court. A closed roof locks in humidity, making a naturally slick surface even slippier. Players can compensate to some degree by getting lower to the court, but the quick starts and rapid changes of direction required at elite level inevitably become more challenging. Hard courts, however, are another matter. There, Williams would almost certainly be quicker. Only she knows where her journey will take her next but, should she choose to play at the US Open, there will be a sturdier basis on which to judge the quality of her movement.

Either way, it should be acknowledged that the law of diminishing returns kicks in mercilessly after 40. Some balls are simply no longer worth running for. It is hard for a player at any level to accept that reality, let alone one of WIlliams’s stature. Who wants to play the role of bystander as balls you would once have chased down with ease instead sail past? It is a blow to the ego, an unwanted reminder of your own mortality, both sporting and otherwise. And yet it is a necessary art, one where the skill lies in being selective, in shepherding your resources, in saving the greatest effort for the moments of greatest need. 

That is precisely what Williams did when presented with the opportunity to level the match, hanging tough to come out on the right side of a 13-stroke rally. Would moments like that would have been made simpler by playing a warm-up event? Undoubtedly. There is no substitute for match play, where adrenaline and nerves come into play, and physical commitment is at the maximum. But as Williams explained in her pre-tournament press briefing, she remained unsure about whether to accept a wildcard right up to the eve of the qualifying competition, a deadline beyond which the decision would have been taken out of her hands. 

Why Serena Williams deserved her place in the draw

She was permitted that luxury because she is a seven-time Wimbledon champion and one of the greatest players in tennis history. That status was earned, not conferred. To view her participation simply through the prism of the £80,000 cheque that might otherwise have gone to Katie Volynets, the American world No 101 who was next on the entry list, seems pedantic, reductive and self-righteous. 

It also ignores the restorative effect the victory might have for Joint, a fine young player who has been ranked as high as 28th but has struggled for form this year. Coming into the fortnight, the 20-year-old had lost all but one of her previous 13 matches. Now she has one of the most significant victories of her career, a result that will forever remain a personal reference point. Not everyone can say they have beaten Serena Williams at Wimbledon. How do you put a price on that?

As for the All England Club, commercial reality was always going to outweigh other considerations. Even in retirement, Williams remains one of the biggest names in world sport. Her comeback was one of the most significant stories of the year, generating huge buzz around the tournament. It would have been madness to deny her a wildcard. No doubt Volynets was disappointed to miss out, but the disappointment of millions of tennis fans worldwide would have been far greater had it been the other way around. 

As it is, the woman who evolved away from the sport four years ago has now revolved back. Not as a perfect recreation of her peak self – because that would be impossible – and seemingly with more humble objectives, if her insistence that she just wants to “have fun” and enjoy the sport from a new perspective is to be believed.

“I don’t need to win, I’ve won more than most people in their whole lives,” Williams said last month at Queen’s Club, where her doubles partnership with Victoria Mboko lasted just one match before the Canadian suffered an injury.

“That is not important to me, and it’s important I keep reminding myself of that. I don’t have anything to prove, I don’t have anything to lose. Everything here is to gain.”

It may be a while before we learn what Williams has gained so far, given that she did not speak to the media following her defeat. What we do know is that the interregnum is over. For how long, who knows? In many ways, the uncertainty is part of the fun.

Serena Williams may not be able to recall time past but, as her brief singles adventure in SW19 showed, she can still have plenty of impact on time present.

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As the defending Wimbledon champion, however, that is the role in which the 25-year-old has been cast since her arrival in SW19 last week, and she has appeared faintly bemused by the attendant pageantry. Perhaps that is partly because Swiatek, a player better known for her exploits on clay, always regarded the prospect of winning on the lush lawns of the All England Club as “impossible”. It is hard to be fully prepared for something you never envisaged happening in the first place.

Happen it did, however, and having beaten Amanda Anisimova to win the title last summer, it fell to Swiatek to open the Centre Court programme on the first Tuesday, as tradition dictates the returning champion must. 

On the eve of the fortnight, Swiatek spoke of keeping her expectations low – as well she might, after a chequered season in which she has slipped to third in the rankings, lost an opening round match for the first time in 74 outings in Miami, and failed to win a title. Yet, with the sense of occasion underlined by the presence of her father and sister in the Royal Box, there was no prospect of going under the radar as she faced American doubles specialist Taylor Townsend.

An unkind draw may yet pit her against more illustrious names, but Townsend represented an undeniably tricky opening assignment. The 30-year-old’s modest singles ranking of 79th belies her pedigree and skills – she is No 2 in doubles, where she is a three-time major winner – and the suspicion was that she would would provide a stern early test for the Polish third seed. So it proved.

How Iga Swiatek narrowly avoided an unwanted record

For two hours and two minutes, momentum flitted back and forth and Swiatek frequently seemed closer to disaster than triumph. Defeat would have earned the Pole the dubious distinction of joining Steffi Graf and the suspended Marketa Vondrousova as only the third defending champion in the open era to lose in round one. Little wonder, then, that her 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory exacted an emotional toll that was plain to see as she sat weeping into a towel afterwards.

“For sure it’s not easy to come back as a defending champion, so I’m happy that I got through the match,” said Swiatek, who began the afternoon in near-immaculate fashion only to end it with 36 unforced errors, including nine double faults. 

“I think the whole process of opening on [Centre Court] and playing as the defending champion is for sure really emotional. Last year, probably the most amazing thing in my whole tennis career happened here, so I felt it also today. It was a mix of different emotions. Overall, I’m happy that I got to win and I can have another chance to play on this court.”

That opportunity will come against Czech former finalist Karolina Pliskova, but at times it was touch and go. Swiatek admitted in her on-court interview that nerves got the better of her in the second set, but expressed satisfaction that she was able to recover her game in the decider.

“These are the moments that you feel you did the job,” she said, “because it is not hard when everything goes your way and you are so confident that everything goes in.”

How did Taylor Townsend run Iga Swiatek so close?

Townsend’s assertive approach to the contest limited Swiatek’s ability to establish that confidence. Time is at a premium on a grass court, and it was clearly the American’s intention to ensure her opponent enjoyed as little of it as possible. It is no secret that the Pole can be vulnerable from the back of the court when rushed, and Townsend’s tactic of adopting a highly aggressive return position, often a foot or more inside the baseline, served to maximise the champion’s discomfiture. 

Smoking her returns, Townsend fashioned five break points in Swiatek’s opening service game. The world No 3 saved them all and, having held from 15-40, went on to snatch a break of her own. Another soon followed, Swiatek forcing a volleying error with a dipping return. With barely half an hour played she was, emphatically, on her way.  

At a set down, Townsend faced a tactical puzzle. She had the makings of an effective strategy, but unforced errors – 11 in the first set, versus a miserly four from Swiatek – were making it hard to implement. It did not help that she was landing a relatively modest 60% of her first serves at that stage, limiting her ability to play the match from the net, and therefore on her own terms. Invited to make hay on the return, Swiatek accepted the gift gleefully, limiting the American to a meagre 30% of points behind her second delivery.

With the tactical clarity of Townsend’s early efforts becoming a distant memory, the dawn of a new set brought a chance to reset. This time, she executed her game plan to perfection. Nailing a return to force a Swiatek error, Townsend broke in the first game. That fed her conviction and, committed once more to a front-foot approach, she soon began to showcase her proficiency at the net, picking off volleys behind knifed approach shots. As Townsend attacked with aplomb and defended with newfound resilience, it was Swiatek’s turn to wobble. 

The numbers behind Iga Swiatek’s second-set dropoff

The numbers reflected the extent of the turnaround. Having won six of 13 net points in the first set, Townsend claimed 13 of 16 in the second. Her seven unforced errors were fewer than half Swiatek’s 16, while her success rate behind the second serve soared to an impressive 70%. By the time Swiatek left the court for a comfort break with the match level, it was the champion who had all the thinking to do. Her analysis made for fascinating listening. 

“I felt that at the beginning of the second set, Taylor kind of pushed a little harder, she went to the net more successfully, compared to some volleys she missed in the first set.,” said Swiatek. “There are always two people playing, you know; if she didn’t push, then maybe I wouldn’t make these mistakes. 

“I felt like at the end of the second set it was a more even game – it’s not like I was playing stupid – so I had something to be positive about. I went into the third set knowing that now we start from the beginning.”

And what a beginning it was.

For 21 minutes the players toiled, Swiatek alternately shooting herself in the foot with double faults, of which she produced three, before training her sights on Townsend. The absorbing battle of wills, a mirror of Swiatek’s first service game of the afternoon, eventually went her way – although not before she had staved off four break points, one of them with a meaty 104mph second serve.

It was a vital breakthrough. Swiatek won her next two service games to love and, although she was dismayed when Townsend cancelled out a break midway through the set, she broke again in the eighth game with a lovely rolled pass. She would not be caught again, sealing victory with her second ace of the day.

Having met the demands of the occasion, Swiatek will no doubt be grateful to relinquish the spotlight.

“You feel like a lot of people are waiting for this match, like it’s all coming up to have this moment on this court, which feels strange because it’s just a tennis match,” said Swiatek.

“But that’s what Wimbledon is about a little bit, and I really wanted everyone to enjoy it – and I wanted to enjoy it, which is obviously not easy, because playing tennis is sometimes tough.”

Whatever unfolds over the next fortnight, Swiatek will have few days tougher than this.

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The British 30th seed, who was scheduled to begin her campaign against Antonia Ruzic of Croatia on Monday, announced the news on Sunday evening, just hours after a press briefing in which she admitted she was struggling with a “niggle” but said she hoped to play.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but sadly I’ve had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon,” Raducanu said in a statement. 

“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line tomorrow but after a final scan tonight, the ­niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture and I’ve been medically advised to stop pushing through. 

“Playing at Wimbledon, in front of a home crowd, means everything to me, so this is really difficult to process. I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. Especially at a time like this, it is invaluable. I look forward to seeing you when I’m back.”

The latest addition to the 23-year-old’s unhappy history of injury setbacks follows several days of speculation about her fitness.

How a stress fracture cost Emma Raducanu her latest tilt at Wimbledon

On Wednesday evening, Raducanu was seen leaving the All England Club grounds with a protective boot on her right foot. 

She was not seen again until Saturday afternoon, when she appeared to be moving gingerly during a session with her team on the Aorangi Park practice courts. Raducanu, who wore strapping on her lower right leg, subsequently cut short a practice set with Anna Kalinskya, the 19th seed, before moving her scheduled pre-tournament press conference to the following day.

The former US Open champion completed a session with her hitting partner Alexis Canter at Aorangi Park on Sunday, but appeared to be limiting her movement to avoid putting any stress through her right leg. 

The frustration of having to withdraw from the tournament will be all the greater for Raducanu after her encouraging showing at Queens Club earlier this month, where she reached her first final since winning the US Open in 2021. 

Having struggled with a foot injury during the off-season before suffering with a viral illness and its after-effects for several months, her performances in west London suggested she was finally beginning to establish the momentum that has largely eluded her since that fairytale run in New York. But she now faces yet another spell on the sidelines. 

Emma Raducanu: ‘I’ve had a tough start to the season’

“I had a great week at Queen’s Club,” Raducanu reflected earlier on Sunday. “All I want to do is to keep building on that momentum. I’ve had a tough start to the season, a lot of time out.

“I have great people around me, that’s one thing that’s really been helping in this latest setback. Having their support, they’re really in it with me. It means a lot to have that.”

She will need that support more than ever in the weeks ahead.

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The 26-year-old declined to submit an out-of-competition sample when visited at her home by a doping control officer in December of last year, prompting the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to charge her with an anti-doping rule violation in late February.

Writing on social media, Vondrousova attributed the incident to an accumulation of “months of physical and mental stress” that clouded her judgment and meant she “couldn’t process the situation rationally”. She also cited safety concerns.

However, an independent tribunal hearing held earlier this month in London found that Vondrousova provided “no compelling justification” for her refusal to take a test. She must now serve a suspension until 21 June 2030, although she retains the right to lodge an appeal with the court of arbitration for sport.

What did Marketa Vondrousova say about her four-year ban?

“I would not wish what I have been through over the past few months on anyone,” Vondrousova wrote on Instagram. “It has been an incredibly exhausting and painful period that affected me far more deeply than I could have ever imagined.

“I have never doped. I have never had a positive test throughout my entire career. I have undergone countless anti-doping controls and have always stepped on to the court with a clear conscience.

“Professional sport means accepting rules and controls. I’ve always respected them.”

The Czech, who reached the 2019 French Open final as a teenager and won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics two years later, has a career-high ranking of sixth. She is currently ranked 122 in the world, having not played since withdrawing from the Adelaide International in January with a shoulder injury. 

“I honestly do not know what comes next,” Vondrousova added. “For the first time in my life, I do not have a plan.”

A host of senior WTA players including Sorana Cirstea, Paula Badosa, Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur responded to the former Wimbledon champion’s post with expressions of support.

What did the International Tennis Integrity Agency say about Vondrousova’s ban?

Karen Moorhouse, the ITIA chief executive, acknowledged the severity of the punishment but said treating refused tests with the same rigour as proven anti-doping violations was the only way to uphold the effectiveness of the wider system.

“We recognise that this is a significant ban,” said Moorhouse. “The reason for that is that you can’t have an anti-doping system where a player is in a better place by refusing to take a test than they would by taking the test and testing positive.

“That feeds into the structure of the doping rules that provides for a starting point of a four-year ban for refusing to take a test, the same as a starting point for testing positive.”

Moorhouse hailed the tribunal verdict as an endorsement of the importance of random testing in maintaining the sport’s integrity. 

While the doping control officer who visited Vondrousova did so outside the daily one-hour slot when players are obliged to make themselves available at a specific location, the rules also allow for occasional unscheduled testing. 

“Unpredictable testing is an essential tool to protect clean sport,” said Moorhouse. “The independent tribunal ultimately supported that principle. The case is an important reminder that players can be tested at any time, in any place, and that refusal comes with significant risk.”

What happened when Vondrousova was visited by a doping control officer?

At about 8pm on 3 December 2025, a female doping control officer arrived unannounced at Vondrousova’s home to conduct an out-of-competition test. According to Nicole Sapstead, the ITIA’s senior director for anti-doping, the Czech refused to admit the officer, instead signing a refusal form as she left her apartment with her dog.

“The player signed the refusal form outside,” said Sapstead. “She left her apartment to walk her dog and made it clear to the doping control officer that she was refusing a test. The doping control officer asked her to sign the form to indicate as much. 

“We ask our doping control officers to be as clear as possible when they’re engaging with players. It’s not for them to tell a player where a sanction may lay. 

“What we do say is: ‘Please make it very clear that there are consequences, some significant consequences, if that individual refuses.’ So yes, that was made very clear to the player. It was very clear that the player did not wish to engage with the process.” 

Vondrousova later said on social media that her refusal to co-operate stemmed from concerns about her personal safety resulting from the officer’s alleged failure to provide the appropriate credentials and authorisation. She said experts had confirmed that she suffered an “acute stress reaction and generalised anxiety disorder”. 

“The doping control incident happened because I reached a breaking point after months of physical and mental stress,” Vondrousova wrote in April. “When someone rang my door late at night without properly identifying themselves or following protocol – I reacted as a person who felt scared. 

“In that moment it was about feeling safe, not about avoiding anything. Fear clouded my judgment and I just couldn’t process the situation rationally.”

‘We don’t take strangers at our door lightly’

In the same post, Vondrousova also alluded to the knife attack suffered by her compatriot Petra Kvitova when an intruder broke into her home in Prague in 2016. The double Wimbledon champion was forced to undergo surgery following the incident, in which she suffered potentially career-threatening injuries to her left hand. Kvitova made a successful return to competition six months later. 

“After what happened to Petra, we don’t take strangers at our door lightly,” said Vondrousova.

The Czech’s account of her actions has fallen on deaf ears, however, and only a successful appeal can now save what should be her peak years in the sport. 

Vondrousova’s camp have indicated that they will await publication of the full written judgment before deciding on next steps.

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The 44-year-old American, seven of whose 23 grand slam titles have come on the lawns of the All England Club, has been awarded the final remaining wildcard for the women’s draw.

Williams’ last competitive appearance as a singles player came at the US Open in 2022, when she was beaten in the third round by Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic. Notably, she stopped short of saying she was retiring, insisting that she was simply “evolving away” from tennis. 

Williams’ return marks the culmination of a slow-burning saga that began last October, when her re-entry to the drug-testing pool, a necessary precursor to any competitive comeback, became the focus of feverish speculation. 

She played down that conjecture until the start of this month, when she announced she would play doubles with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club. The partnership lasted just one match before an injury forced the Canadian teenager to withdraw from the event. 

Williams continued her comeback in Berlin, where she lost in the first round of the doubles alongside Karolina Muchova, the Czech world No 11. The outcome notwithstanding, that appearance, which came hard on the heels of the announcement that she would compete in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon with her sister Venus, 46, left Williams optimistic about the state of her game.

What has Serena Williams said about her level since returning to tennis?

“I felt pretty good out there,” she said. “I felt actually more nimble and sturdy and quicker than the first match at Queens. Overall I felt pretty good, just physically and quickness, which I think you need a lot of on grass.”

WIlliams added that it would be “fun” competing with Venus in SW19, where the sisters have claimed the doubles title six times. But she remained evasive when asked if she would be interested in taking up the final singles wildcard if it were offered.

“Would you be interested that I took it?” she replied to her interrogator. “Do you think I’m ready for singles? I need to get to work. That’s the question of the hour. I don’t know, I don’t know.”

That stance has clearly changed over the past five days. But while it will be fascinating to see Williams she fares, the odds remain stacked against a deep run. She has not won a singles match at the All England Club since 2019, when she was trounced in the final by Simona Halep, and it remains to be seen how she will cope with the more onerous physical demands of competing one-on-one. That said, if history has taught us anything, it is that writing off the great American is a fool’s game.   

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In that moment, it was impossible not to recall the horrendous scenes that unfolded in the same spot in 2022, when the German was left writhing in agony after tearing his ankle ligaments against Rafael Nadal.

Happily for Zverev, this time was different: a moment of catharsis in the broadest and most literal sense. He had just done what many thought he might never do. By defeating Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in a match spanning more than four hours and five sets to win the French Open, the 29-year-old had secured his first grand slam title, at the fourth time of asking. 

With his 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 victory, Zverev cleansed the painful emotions associated with the injury that derailed him four years ago, and applied a salve to similarly excruciating memories of his previous grand slam final defeats against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open, Carlos Alcaraz two summers ago in Paris, and Jannik Sinner last year in Melbourne. In a sporting sense, at least, the pain of those moments was eased and Zverev’s sense of self renewed. 

What did Alexander Zverev say after his French Open victory?

“This court is so special to me in so many ways,” he told the French crowd. “I’ve had the best moments of my life on this court, I’ve had the worst moment of life on this court. I was laying in that corner over there, four years ago, with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones. I lost a grand slam final here two years ago. But now, finally, it’s a happy end.”

For those who struggle to forget that Zverev has twice denied accusations of domestic abuse, the last of those sentiments will be problematic. 

Two years ago, the German reached an out-of-court settlement with his former partner Brenda Patea, the mother of his child, after she claimed he had physically assaulted her. Zverev denied Patea’s claims, just as he did those of another former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova. The ATP commissioned an independent investigation into the latter case, with the inquiry concluding there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.

Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli and a French Open final of uneven quality

If the identity of the new champion was not to the satisfaction of all, the same could be said of the uneven quality of the tennis on show. While Zverev’s level fluctuated, particularly as the finish line beckoned in the fourth set, Cobolli, seeded 10th and contesting his first major final, began the afternoon nervously and finished it physically compromised and far below his best. 

Yet the 24-year-old showed spirit to force his way into the match after a slow start and, while he will have better days, he produced enough moments of quality to make it competitive. If it remained a far cry from the sporting banquet put on by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in last year’s final, neither was it a case of feast to famine. Not quite, at any rate.

After overhitting early on, Cobolli began to play with greater patience and margin in the second set. It meant that when the previously flawless Zverev faltered for the first time, throwing in a pair of double faults in the seventh game, Cobolli was well placed to take advantage. With the match all square, however, it was Zverev’s turn to dig in. Having moved within a game of restoring his lead at 5-4, he was rewarded with a flurry of forehand errors from Cobolli that left him just one set away from finally ending his grand slam drought.

It was an unmissable opportunity. The unique circumstances that conspired to elevate the second-seeded German to the status of title favourite – the withdrawal of Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion, Sinner’s shock defeat to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo in the second round, Joao Fonseca’s win over Novak Djokovic in the third – may never be repeated.

How Zverev lost his way in the fourth set of the French Open final

But that reality appeared to weigh heavily on Zverev in the fourth set, much as the leads he held against Thiem and Alcaraz in previous major finals had done. He began the set by dropping serve and, although he belatedly got back on level terms when Cobolli served for the set, the metronomic efficiency of the first and third sets was now a distant memory. With Zverev tightening, the door remained ajar. 

Despite struggling on serve, a problem that dogged him throughout, Cobolli forced his way through in the ensuing tiebreak, hammering a huge forehand winner to tie the proceedings once more. “I just closed my eyes,” said Cobolli. “That sometimes helps.” 

With Zverev beginning to labour physically, albeit more through pressure than any loss of condition, the momentum was clearly with the lower-ranked man going into the decider. 

“I was cramping,” Zeverev admitted. “I was struggling physically a little bit, even though I don’t think the cramps were physical, I think they were mental. I was very tightened up, I was very emotional. 

“I was a bit unstable also, in the fourth set. But I actually think that the cramps helped me in a way. I think that I let go, I hit my shots a bit more.”

In the event, though, that was more than Cobolli could do. Unbeknown to his opponent, the Italian was also suffering. His progress to the title round had been eased by the withdrawal of his friend and fellow countryman Matteo Arnaldi with a virus, but the pressure of the occasion seemed to outweigh the benefits of any additional rest. The decider slipped away quickly.    

“I felt cramps on my calf,” said Cobolli, reflecting on the final moments of the fourth set. “I tried my best on the changeover, I took all five minutes. But my calf was gone. At the end, after the second game [of the fifth set], also my quad. I felt completely tired. My body left me on the court.”

Where do Zverev and Cobolli go from here?

While Cobolli will hope to grace such a stage again – “When you reach the first final, why not the second?” he mused – Zverev expressed optimism that, having finally shaken off the label of being one of the best players never to win a major, more such moments might lie ahead.

“Maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play a final,” he said. “If I had lost this one, the self-belief would’ve gone down a lot. Now that I’ve won it, I feel I can do it again.”

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In blustery conditions at Roland Garros on Saturday, the promised end materialised as Andreeva, the eighth seed, saw off Polish qualifier Maja Chwalińska 6-3, 6-2 to secure the first of what will surely be many grand slam titles.

That the breakthrough came in Paris, where the 19-year-old Russian made her debut at this level three years ago, felt apt. She marked that maiden grand slam campaign in 2023 with a run to the third round, where she fell to Coco Gauff in three sets. But Andreeva’s emergence that year is perhaps best remembered for her declaration that she hoped to finish her career with 25 majors.

Time alone will tell whether she can make good on that vaulting ambition. For the moment, however, one will do just fine. That point was underlined when Andreeva posed afterwards alongside her coach, the former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez. As both women held a single finger aloft, the message was clear: one down. There will be time for the next 24.

Mirra Andreeva: ‘It’s been one of my biggest dreams’

“It’s been one of my biggest dreams,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of thoughts on how it’s going to happen, if it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, where. The feeling in real life is, I would say, so much better than in your dreams.”

On championship point, as Andreeva applied the coup de grâce with her 25th winner of the afternoon before sinking to her knees, the overriding sense was of destiny being fulfilled in real time. 

Since the open era began in 1968, only Monica Seles, Aranxta Sanchez Vicario and Steffi Graf have lifted the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen at a younger age, while this century only Maria Sharapova and Emma Raducanu, at 17 and 18 respectively, have won a major earlier in their careers. 

In one respect, however, this was a victory quite unlike those that went before. The emergence of a teenage champion is normally accompanied by scenes of joy, emotion, spontaneity. Seles hurling her racket skywards in 1990, her smile illuminating an otherwise damp, gloomy Parisian afternoon. A giggling Sharapova trying in vain to call her mother from Wimbledon’s Centre Court following her 2004 win. 

This was different. Andreeva’s victory was a more knowing, choreographed affair – and never mind that she is barely older than the ball kids who later formed a cheering guard of honour as she descended the stairs into the bowels of Court Philippe Chatrier. 

Mirra Andreeva: ‘I want to thank myself’

Hardly had the red dirt settled before Andreeva was handed a jacket emblazoned with the words: “I want to thank myself,” a nod to the catchphrase she coined after winning her first tour-level event in Romania two years ago. Meanwhile, her team donned T-shirts bearing a picture of the new champion alongside the legend, “Fight beyond your years.” Never say the marketing fraternity don’t come prepared.

Perhaps the Andreeva camp’s preparedness was to be expected, a reflection of the gulf in status and experience between Chwalińska, who arrived in Paris for the qualifying event with a ranking of 114, and the first top-10 player she has faced in her career. Certainly there was a lack of jeopardy on a day when the Pole, previously so adept at bringing her craft and variety to bear, struggled to find her game in the swirling wind.

Yet this has been a French Open defined by the unexpected, and little has been more unexpected than Chwalińska’s carving run through the draw. A throwback to a more elegant era, with her variety and touch, she has discombobulated opponents with her ability to run down every ball and driven them to distraction with her deft drop shots and changes of pace and trajectory. Against a player whose scalps included Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, former semi-finalist Maria Sakkari, and a trio of seeds in Elise Mertens, Anna Kalinskaya and Diana Shnaider,  Andreeva could take nothing for granted.

She knew as much, and it showed. No doubt well briefed by Martínez, Andreeva refused to be ensnared in Chwalińska’s web. She found a perfect balance between patience and aggression. She was alive to the danger posed by the Pole’s drop shots, and quick to move forward when they arrived. In every possible sense, she was prepared for victory.

Challenging conditions

It nonetheless took time for the teenager to settle. With the conditions challenging, an uneven start from both women produced four straight breaks, with Andreeva twice dropping serve on a double fault. But having held for the first time in the sixth game, she grew visibly in confidence, compiling a run of nine straight games to put the title beyond Chwalińska’s reach. 

The 24-year-old can, however, reflect with satisfaction on a run that propels her to a career-high ranking of 21. Nor is that the only sense in which Chwalińska finds herself among elevated company, given that Evonne Goolagong and Chris Evert are the only other women to make the final as main draw debutants in the open era. As a self-confessed tennis nerd, it is a distinction she will appreciate. 

Bailed out by the Polish sports drink firm Oshee when she ran out of funds to support her extended stay in Paris, Chwalińska will no doubt be equally appreciative of the €1.4m ($1.625m) cheque she will bank for her efforts, almost doubling her previous total career earnings.  

Maja Chwalińska: ‘It’s been 18 years of hard work, patience and perseverance’

“It’s been 18 years of hard work, patience and perseverance,” said Chwalińska, who was born in the southern Polish city of Dąbrowa Górnicza, an industrial hub where her father, Tomasz, worked as a coal miner and her mother, Marcela, was a receptionist.

“I had to go through so much to be in this position. Life is weird sometimes and you’ve just got to do your thing and believe it will click someday, and I’m happy that it did. It is definitely an unforgettable three weeks for me. I’ll never forget it.”

Neither will Andreeva, although she already appears more inclined to focus on the future.  

“I’m already thinking of how I’m going to prepare for the grass season and how I’m going to play,” said the teenager. “I feel like this thing is a little bit addicting. I really want to do my best to experience all of this for the second time.”

As ever with Andreeva, it is surely only a matter of time.

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It was the same familiar story on Wednesday as the 24-year-old Polish qualifier battled past Anna Kalinskaya, the Russian world No 24, to reach her first major semi-final 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. 

A case of same old, same old then? Hardly. Not in the wider scheme of things at any rate. Chwalińska’s best previous run at a grand slam came four years ago at Wimbledon, when she reached the second round. But in a tournament where shock results have come thick and fast, she has emerged as the queen of upsets. 

Across her eight matches so far, including three in qualifying, only Maria Sakkari, the Greek former world No 3, has been able to take a set off Chwalińska. Her haul of notable scalps includes Qinwen Zheng, winner of the Olympic title on the Parisian clay two summers back, as well as Elise Mertens, the 23rd seed, and Diane Parry, the last French hope, and now Kalinskaya, a former world No 11 who knows what it is to contest a grand slam quarter-final, having done so two years ago in Melbourne.

What did Maja Chwalińska say after her French Open win over Anna Kalinskaya?

“I honestly don’t know what’s going on,” a dazed Chwalińska told Caroline Garcia as she stood smiling on Court Philippe Chatrier afterwards. “I know I repeat myself, but every single match here is kind of crazy for me, so I’m very grateful.

“I was definitely nervous, it’s normal, I care. I’m stressed, of course, but I try to focus on my job, my game. I just try to win every match that I’m playing, but I’m not focusing on confidence. 

“I’m playing against the best players in the world, so I won’t compare myself to them.”

If she continues in this vein, Chwalińska may have no choice. She follows in the footsteps of her friend Iga Swiatek, a four-time champion in these parts, as just the second Pole to reach the last four at Roland Garros in the open era. Chwalińska also becomes one of only half a dozen qualifiers to make the semi-finals over that period, a feat last achieved by Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska in 2020. Not bad for a player who was struggling to fund her unexpectedly long stay in the French capital until the Polish sports drink company Oshee stepped in to help. 

Early signs that Kalinskaya’s superior firepower would carry the day proved deceptive. Having hit through Chwalińska to secure a break in the opening game, the Russian slowly became enmeshed in her opponent’s intricate web of southpaw spins and all-court guile. 

On a windy, overcast day in Paris, the slow conditions were grist to the mill for Chwalińska, whose combination of looping topspin forehands and viciously sidespun two-handers meant the onus was on Kalinskaya to generate her own pace. For a player who thrives on rhythm and power, it would prove an insoluble problem.

How did Maja Chwalińska disrupt Anna Kalinskaya?

Especially telling was Chwalińska’s disruptive use of the drop shot, a trademark weapon that exposed the limitations of Kalinskaya’s movement and effectiveness in the forecourt. Time and again the 27-year-old was left flailing at shoelace-level balls that left her looking ungainly and uncomfortable. Though alive to the danger – understandably so, given that Chwalińska had won 33 of the 38 drop shots she had attempted over the fortnight coming into the match – she was largely powerless to counter it.

It was not for the want of trying. Towards the end of the first set, and after being urged by her coach Patricia Tarabini to combine her natural aggression with greater patience, Kalinskaya belatedly began to find her range. Having lost five straight games, she twice broke Chwalińska as she served for the opener, fending off set points in both games. By the time she levelled at five games apiece, the qualifier’s scrambling feet had become the soundtrack to the contest, her defensive efforts becoming increasingly desperate.

Even as she threatened to falter, however, the danger posed by Chwalińska remained clear. Her craft and cunning were no less evident in the delicious lob volley winner with which she punctuated a brilliant 27-shot rally than they were on the many occasions when she snuck in mid-rally to volley away winners. 

It was perhaps the enduring sense of menace posed by Chwalińska that prompted Kalinskaya to lapse into error in the tiebreak that followed. When a backhand sailed long to signal the conclusion of the opening set, Kalinskaya’s unforced error tally stood at 29 to the Pole’s 10. 

Anna Kalinskaya: ‘The ball is coming at one mile an hour’

Three games into the second set, another untidy error cost the Russian a break from which she would not recover. Her mental turmoil was laid bare by the frustrated exchange with Tarabini that followed. “The ball is coming at one mile an hour and you want me to push?” barked the exasperated Kalinskaya. “That’s all you can do,” replied the Argentinian with a wan smile. By the end, it was far more than she could do.

As Kalinskaya sent a final ball long, Chwalińska held her head in her hands and then walked to the net with her hand over her mouth, a portrait of disbelief.

Food, rest and Netflix await, said the Pole, who will now face the winner of the day’s second quarter-final between Aryna Sabalenka and Diana Shnaider. If she finds anything more compelling to watch than her own run to the last four, she will be doing well.

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The 44-year-old, who returned to the drug-testing pool last October and has spent the eight months since playing down talk of a potential comeback, has been granted a wildcard to  play doubles alongside Victoria Mboko, the Canadian world No 9.

It will be Williams’ first appearance since she bade farewell to the sport at the 2022 US Open. At the time, the 23-time grand slam champion stopped short of saying she was retiring, suggesting instead that she was “evolving away” from tennis.

The possibility of a return drew closer in February, when Williams’ name was restored to the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of active players. 

But it was only when the former world No 1 posted a video of herself striding on to a tennis court that her plans became clear. “Guess everybody heard the news,” read the strapline. 

Serena Williams: ‘Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin’

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

It remains to be seen whether the American’s appearance at Queen’s will be the prelude to a reappearance at Wimbledon, where she has lifted the Venus Rosewater dish on seven occasions. It is equally unclear whether she plans to return to the singles court. 

What we do know is that Williams has trodden a similar path before. In 2022, she ended a year-long injury hiatus by partnering Ons Jabeur at Eastbourne and went on to play singles at Wimbledon, where she was beaten in the opening round by Harmony Tan of France. 

Whatever her ultimate goal, the tennis world is certain to welcome Williams back into the fold. As one of the greatest players in the history of the game, there will be a place for her in the draw of any tournament she should wish to contest.

“Serena brought the game to another level and it is incredible for the sport that she’s pushing the boundaries and coming back,” said Martina Navratilova, whose record as the oldest former world No 1 to return to the tour, achieved two months shy of her 44th birthday, will now be eclipsed.

“To many of the younger players, they never had the opportunity to play her. Some may have never watched her on television. So this will be a new and exciting experience.”

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The British fifth seed, who had been scheduled to face Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the second round, now faces another period on the sidelines after missing the recent Masters 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati as he attempted to recover from a bruised bone in his upper left arm.

The injury, which Draper attempted to play down earlier this week, leaves him unable to defend the bulk of the 800 points he earned after reaching the semi-finals last year. He is projected to drop at least two places in the rankings to seventh as a result.

“Hi guys, I’m sorry to say I’ll be withdrawing from the US Open,” Draper announced on social media. “I tried my very best to be here and give myself every chance to play, but the discomfort in my arm has become too much and I have to do what is right and look after myself. Thank you for all the support.”

The irony is that Draper had appeared to be in particularly fine fettle after emerging from a seven-week hiatus last week to compete in the re-imagined mixed doubles event alongside Jessica Pegula. Always an imposing presence at 6ft 4in, he looked noticeably more muscular, a change he attributed to tennis-specific fitness work during his injury absence rather than a dedicated effort to bulk up with bench presses and the like.

Before his return at Flushing Meadows, where his mixed doubles run with Pegula culminated with a semi-final defeat to Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek, Draper was last seen in competitive action at Wimbledon, where he was seeded fourth but was beaten in round two by former finalist Marin CIlic. By then, he had already been suffering with pain in his humerus, the bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow, for several weeks.

“It was something I was playing through for a while,” Draper said after his win over Gomez on Monday. “I first started feeling it probably towards the middle of the clay season. I felt like my arm was shutting down a little bit when I was hitting forehands and on the serve. It kind of got progressively worse. Then, on the grass, it got quite painful. So I didn’t know what I was dealing with. 

“After the grass, I got it checked out. I had some bone stress, bone bruising, in my humerus on my left side. It is one of those where, if you keep playing with it, it could become very, very serious. So I had to take some time out. Saying that, it was not so bad, because I could obviously do a lot of other things as well physically. It wasn’t like I had to stop completely.” 

That situation has now changed, with a longer layoff seemingly required to solve the issue. Draper, who practised at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday and Wednesday before confirming his withdrawal, had been seeded to meet Jannik Sinner, the Italian world No 1, in the quarter-finals.

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