In a major upset, Maya Joint has defeated former world number one Serena Williams at Wimbledon. At just 20, the Australian tennis player is making waves in the tennis world.
Serena Williams, who has won Wimbledon 7 times, was making her grand return to the game for the first time in four years. Her daughter, Adira River Ohanian (born August 2023) and husband Alexis Ohanian watched from the stands.
Whereas Maya Joint was playing for only her second time at the grand slam. And it was her first on the centre court.
“I really don’t know what to say just now,” Maya said after the match. “Wow, I don’t really know what just happened, to be honest.”
The rising Australian tennis star admitted that she couldn’t sleep the night before due to nerves.
“I forgot the warm-up. I don’t know what happened. My legs weren’t moving. I don’t know how I got a pretty good start in the match.”
“[Serena] has such an aura, she’s such a legend, and this court has so many huge names that have played on it,” Maya gushed following her win. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.”
You're a star, Maya 💫#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/btuZyQ7nA6
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2026
Earlier this year, she was the first-seeded woman at the Australian Open since Ash Barty. Maya is becoming one of the country’s brightest hopes in women’s tennis.
Serena didn’t speak to the media, but released a statement following the match.
“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here,” the statement read. “The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”
But it won’t be the last we see of Serena at Wimbledon. She and Venus will be playing in the doubles, which they have won six times!
Born 16 April 2006 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Maya is the daughter of Michael (Mick) Point, an Australian professional squash player, and Katja Joint, a German squash player.
Her father left Australia at 19 years old to pursue his squash career. It brought him to Argentina, Canada and Germany, where he met Katja. The couple moved to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan, in 2004. However, the family moved back to Australia in 2025. Mich is currently a coach at the MCC Squash Club.
Unlike her squash-playing parents, Maya gravitated towards tennis. As a dual citizen of the United States and Australia, she had the opportunity to represent either country in tennis. However, in mid-2023, at just 16 years old, she opted to represent Australia. Maya moved to Brisbane to train at Tennis Australia’s National Academy Queensland.
She moved to Melbourne in mid-2025.
Maya competed in her first professional tournament in February 2021 in Orlando, Florida, at 14 years old. However, she was eliminated in the first qualifying round. She returned in 2022 and had two straight-set qualifying victories and won her first main draw match.
Maya won her first professional ITF title in December 2023 in Queensland at the Gold Coast Tennis International doubles draw with fellow Australian Rosin Gilheany.
She made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open. In this tournament, she competed in mixed doubles with Australian Dane Sweeny as a wildcard pair.
Shortly after the 2024 AO, Maya became the youngest Australian tennis player to win an ITF W75 singles title at Burnie International against player Aoi Ito.
Her first major win came in the 2024 US Open against Laura Siegemund.
2025 was an active year for the newly minted professional tennis player. In April, she recorded her first WTA 1000 match win at the Madrid Open, the youngest Australian to do so.
Then in May, she won her maiden WTA singles title at the Morocco Open in Rabat, defeating Jaqueline Cristian in the final. She followed that up by securing her second WTA tour title at the Eastbourne International, winning against Alexandra Eala.
Early in the season, Maya broke into the WTA top 100 after strong performances, including a win over Julia Grabher at the WTA 500 Merida Open, which helped push her into the top 100 for the first time.
She also debuted for the Billie Jean King Cup team in 2025, playing in the qualifying rounds in Brisbane.
By the end of 2025, she had climbed to a career‑high ranking around world No. 32, establishing herself as Australia’s top female player headed into 2026.
Maya Joint’s campaign at the United Cup in Sydney offered a mixed picture as she geared up for the Australian Open. She was representing Australia alongside Alex de Minaur. Unfortunately, she missed Australia’s opening group match due to illness. They were eventually defeated by Poland, which went on to win the cup.
However, she rallied and went on to compete in the Adelaide International and won against 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin.
Her ongoing performance has led to her ranking of 30 in the 2026 Australian Open seeding. She is the first Australian seed (in the women’s) since Ash Barty retired. In the last four decades, only six other Australian women have made it to the top seeds for the AO: Ash Barty, Sam Stosur, Daria Saville, Casey Dellacqua and Alicia Molik.
Sadly, she suffered a straight-sets upset loss (6-4, 6-4) to Czech teenager Tereza Valentová.
She is currently the number 1-ranked Australian player in the WTA Singles Rankings.
