Serena Williams‘ Wimbledon comeback ended in the first round Tuesday after she lost to Australia’s Maya Joint in three sets, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2.
The tennis icon forced a deciding set in her first Grand Slam singles match in nearly four years but couldn’t complete the upset.
Ahead of Williams’ devastating loss in nearly four years, the last player to beat her at Wimbledon picked this exact moment to revive their bitter feud.
Harmony Tan chose the exact day the 44-year-old Williams stepped back onto Centre Court to get something off her chest about their match from 2022.
Their history runs deep.
Tan upset Williams in the first round of the 2022 Championships. She won 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7). The match lasted over three hours.
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It marked Williams’ last Wimbledon appearance before this year’s comeback, which some described as a painful loss.
Seizing on the moment, Tan posted a message on her Instagram story hours before Williams’ match on Tuesday.
“So 4 years ago after the handshake, she blocked me also on Instagram, btw,” Tan wrote, adding laughing emojis.
The 2022 win became the biggest moment of Tan’s career. She reached the fourth round that year before losing to Amanda Anisimova. She hasn’t matched that run since.
This year, Tan failed to qualify, losing to Tyra Caterina Grant in the third round of the qualifiers. That loss killed any chance of a rematch.
During the qualifier rounds, Tan sounded almost hopeful about facing Williams again.
“She’s a legend. She can come back everywhere. I hope I can qualify and maybe play Serena for the first round,” the 28-year-old told tennis reporter Neil McLeman last week.
Fans didn’t buy the sudden shade as questions followed fast.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? OMG!” asked one person.
If you care, the last woman to beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, Harmony Tan, is over on her instagram story saying that she was blocked by the 23 time major champion after their match 4 years ago. pic.twitter.com/2DggdEfolj
— Myles David (@TunedIntoTennis) June 30, 2026
Another wondered, “Why did Serena Williams block Harmony Tan after that handshake? What’s wrong with their handshake?”
Others offered a theory about why Williams blocked Tan, suggesting, “What if she just didn’t want to see Harmony’s posts on her feed because the loss hurt that much.”
what if she just didn't want to see harmony's posts on her feed because the loss hurt that much
— ̶S̶c̶r̶u̶b̶ Silent Sleeper (@UnluckyLoser18) June 30, 2026
Keeping it more real, another stated, “Exactly why she got blocked. Entitled.”
Someone pointed to precedent: “She did the same to Sloane back in 2013 as well.”
The reference was to Sloane Stephens, who was 19 when she upset Williams in the quarterfinals at the 2013 Australian Open.
Stephens later claimed that Williams unfollowed her on Twitter, deleted her from BlackBerry Messenger, and stopped speaking to her in the locker room, according to St. Louis American.
Williams also posted a tweet that read, “I made you,” which Stephens took personally. The two eventually smoothed things over. Stephens later joked she became the “queen of blocking” herself, dealing with backlash from Williams’ fan base.
Cutting off opponents after tough losses appears to be a pattern, not an accident.
Reactions to Tan piled up fast.
“This Harmony girl is annoying. What is she trying to prove by this. I mean it must be exhausting seeing your opponent celebrate their win and social media makes it worse. So she must delete if it saves her mental health,” one person wrote.
Someone else compared her to a different tennis player, writing, “SHE never blocked Osaki and she stopped her twice at winning #24 that says more about Tan.”
One line was bluntly added, “She’s relevant thanks to Serena.”
Tan is not the only person, place, or thing the Compton champion has been blocking lately. As a paid spokesperson for Ro, she’s not worried about an old foe; she is blocking fat.
Earlier this year, critics questioned whether she’d lost her signature curves after losing all this weight.
A video from May silenced most of that noise, as eagle-eyed viewers pointed out her toned physique in a leopard print maxi dress.
Williams has been open about her weight loss following her struggles after giving birth to her second daughter, Adira.
That’s when she started taking GLP-1s. Diet and training alone weren’t working.
“I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,” she told People last August.
After losing 31 pounds, the mother of two said her energy and mobility improved dramatically.
Tuesday’s return itself came with mixed results.
Williams faced 20-year-old Maya Joint on Centre Court and fell 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-3 after two hours and 22 minutes. The crowd gave her a standing ovation anyway.
Her Wimbledon run isn’t finished. She’ll team with sister Venus in women’s doubles starting July 2, chasing one more chapter in a rivalry-filled, record-breaking legacy that refuses to fade quietly.
And let’s watch to see who the greatest female tennis player of all time blocks next.
