Serena Williams’ challenge to Margaret Court’s record has been seen off

Serena Williams in tears after injuring her ankle in her first-round match at Wimbledon

Margaret Court should be fluffing up the cushions on the throne she occupies as queen of women’s tennis and settling back in comfort – Serena Williams’s bid to unseat her has been seen off.

When Williams limped from the Centre Court at Wimbledon overnight, conceding her first-round match to Belarusian Alexandra Sasnovich after slipping and injuring her ankle, her chances of equalling Court’s 24 grand slam titles virtually disappeared. And, at the age of 39, a record-breaking 25 is completely out of reach.

Williams was in tears as she left the court. Perhaps tears of pain, perhaps of frustration. But maybe the realisation she had come so close to achieving something that was now beyond her caused the emotion to well up.

Williams is clearly a force of nature, arguably the greatest women’s player ever. She has done incredible things to stave off the ravages of time and dominate the game for as long as she has.

Since she won her first grand slam title, the US Open, in 1999 her opponents, one by one, have fallen away and retired.

The age of 30 used to be the upper limit for tennis players. Steffi Graf, another great of the game, won her last grand slam at 29 and retired shortly afterwards as her body began to crumble under the demands of international tennis. Chris Evert won her last major at 31 and retired at 34. Martina Navratilova pushed the envelope and made a Wimbledon final at the age of 37, but was done as a singles player soon afterwards.

Like Roger Federer, Serena has done something special, pushing on until she is close to 40. But the end must now be nigh. Aside from her damaged ankle, as she limped off at Wimbledon, her thigh was heavily strapped, Her body is starting to say: “Give me a break Serena, I’ve done enough.”

It is more than four years since she won her 23rd grand slam – the 2017 Australian Open when she was pregnant with her daughter Olympia. She has reached four finals since, two of them at Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and Simona Halep a year later.

This year’s French Open and Wimbledon loomed as her last, best chances of equalling Court’s record. But in the French she fell to a much younger, less experienced opponent in the fourth round, losing 6-3 7-5 to Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina, who wasn’t even born when Williams made her debut in 1998.

After the withdrawals of Halep and Naomi Osaka, the draw at Wimbledon opened up for her. But now she has fallen at the first hurdle.

Osaka, who knocked Williams out of the Australian Open earlier this year, will be back for the US Open and is dominant on hard courts.

In the press conference after her loss in Melbourne in February, Williams seemed to hint that she was close to retirement. “I don’t know,” she said when questioned about the prospect. “If I ever say farewell, I won’t tell anyone.”

But at Wimbledon the hint was even stronger. Hobbling off the court, she paused to wave to the emotional crowd, her hand clasped to her heart.

There’s little doubt that the next time she appears at Centre Court, it will be as a past champion in the stands.