French debutant Harmony Tan was in inspiring form as she edged past Serena Williams to clinch a 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7) victory in her Wimbledon first round women’s singles match at Centre Court on Tuesday. It wasn’t easy from the get-go for Tan as Serena battled hard on her return. With the Centre Court’s roof closed for the final two sets, Tan missed out on a match point when the seven-time Wimbledon champion served at 5-6 in a nerve-wracking set. It looked like Serena would edge past her opponent, leading 4-0 in the ‘super tiebreak’. But Tan kept her calm and continued on with her slices and slow ball shots, which tortured her American opponent throughout the game and finally managed to take a 9-7 lead before sealing a win as Williams netted a forehand.
Hailed by fans after her win, Tan even caught the attention of Serena who was left stunned with an unbelievable effort. Sending a powerful serve, Tan kept her opponent moving in a short rally and Serena tried to seal the point with a powerful forehand volley. But to her utter surprise, the 24-year-old returned it with a powerful backhand and a stunned Serena could only watch it go for a point.
Here is the video of Tan’s unbelievable effort:
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Before her Wimbledon debut, Tan had only stitched up nine Tour wins in her career, none on grass, compared to Serena’s 832. Being a wildcard, her notional ranking is 1,204.
After the match, Tan revealed that she was ’emotional’ and called Serena a ‘superstar’. “I’m so emotional now. Serena is a superstar and when I was young I was watching her so many times on the TV”, she said.
“For my first Wimbledon, it’s wow. Just wow. When I saw the draw I was really scared. Because it’s Serena Williams, she’s a legend. I thought if I could win one or two games it was really good for me”, she further added.
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