Wimbledon strict rule sees Serena Williams’ daughter banned from the court
Greg Harris
Featured Image Credit: Ray Tang/Anadolu via Getty Images
Serena Williams’ daughter was unable to watch her mum’s Wimbledon comeback because of a strict rule.
The 44-year-old tennis icon returned to the court on Tuesday following a four-year absence. She played against Australian star Maya joint in the first round on Centre Court.
The long-awaited match was pushed back after Alex Zverev on against Alexander Blockx after four rounds. The roof was closed to ensure the setting sun could not disrupt the day’s latter proceedings.
Williams’ family was in the players’ box, including her elder sister Venus, 46, who will play doubles with her sister later this week.
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Serena’s eldest daughter Alexis Olympia, eight, watched her mum warm-up and Adira River, two, was also in attendance.
However Wimbledon has a strict policy where children aged five or younger are not allowed to be courtside during the match.
This rule was also in place when Andy Murray retired two years ago and not all of his four children could watch his final appearance courtside.
The rule meant that Adira River had to be taken backstage while the match took place. The match didn’t begin until 7.30pm.
Williams’ return has caused some controversy already. The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion was originally handed a wildcard to compete in the women's doubles alongside her sister Venus Williams, after making her competitive return to tennis earlier in June following four years away from the sport.
Neither Williams sister appeared on the initial list of singles wildcards, but after one final place remained available, Serena accepted an invitation to enter the singles draw.
Grand Slam-winning coach Calvin Betton has criticised both the wildcard and the decision to schedule Williams' opening match on Centre Court.
Speaking on the Tennis Unfiltered podcast, Betton said: "I don't think you can be doing stuff like this.
"Isn't it a gateway drug to getting people like Jake Paul in there? He would put bums on seats and give tournaments some marketing reach... Where's all this leading?
"I don't think it would be that by the way, that's me greatly exaggerating it, but what if one of the tournaments now says we would love to have Roger Federer playing and are willing to pay him millions? What if another tournament does the same with Rafael Nadal? It could get a bit silly.
"If she was coming back and saying, 'I'm having a run at this, my intention is to get back to the top of the rankings, and I want to see how well I can do', then I would be much more sympathetic to it, and I would even back it."
He continued: "But we're giving a wildcard to someone who's not seriously trying to compete at tennis anymore, and instead it's purely for promotional reasons.
"This is my biggest problem with it. We keep hearing that she wants to come back and win. But she doesn't want to win enough to stay around.”