Serena Williams narrowly escapes eye-watering fine after Wimbledon exit

Serena Williams has managed to avoid landing a hefty $50,000 fine after she broke a strict Wimbledon rule following her long-awaited comeback match.

The 44-year-old American tennis legend was met with excited cheers from the crowd as she returned to southwest London’s All England Club for the first time since the sportswoman announced she was ‘evolving away’ from professional tennis in 2022.

Sadly, after taking a wild card, she fell to a 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-3 defeat by Australian Maya Joint, who is 24 years her junior.

After the nail-biting match, Williams, who has seven Wimbledon titles under her belt, declined to attend the press conference.

Instead, she said in a written statement distributed to the media: “It was really great to be back at Wimbledon.

"I never expected to be here. The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything."

Williams declined to attend the post-match conference and instead issued a written statement to the media (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

However, the 2026 Grand Slam rule book, which Wimbledon has to abide by, outlines that ‘both winning and losing players or teams will be required to attend post-match media opportunities following the conclusion of each match’.

It points out how press opportunities ‘enable players to put across their opinions on their performance and provide valuable exposure to the media and fans,’ as well as ‘helping to drive engagement with the sport’.

The strict regulation is usually in place unless the contender is ‘unable to appear on reasonable grounds (for instance, illness or injury)’.

The rulebook warns: ‘If a player is unable to appear, the appropriate level of direct communication is requested. Violation of this Section shall subject a player to a fine up to $50,000.”

But, considering there’s been no confirmation of an official rule-break, it looks like Williams’ reasoning for missing the press conference has been deemed acceptable.

Australian tennis star Maya Joint won the match (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Williams waved to all sides of the court before she left, with Joint saying: “I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was up till 2am just thinking about it.

“She has such an aura, she’s such a legend. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid so this is pretty crazy.”

Williams has previously said that her comeback is about playing in front of her children rather than winning.

She and her husband Alexis Ohanian share two daughters, Olympia, eight, and Adira, two.

The athlete is now gearing up for her doubles match with her sister Venus, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday (2 July) against Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio.

Tyla has contacted Wimbledon and a representative for Serena Williams for comment.