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Williams, who has come back out of retirement and received a wildcard to play at SW19, where she previously won seven of her 23 grand slam titles, clawed back two match points but fell short of a comeback.

And having twice fluffed her lines, Joint held her nerve to serve out a 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 victory.

Making her first appearance on Centre Court since 2022, when she lost in the first round to Harmony Tan, Williams forced two break points in game five of the opening set.

Joint, though, fended off the 44 year-old, and then capitalised by breaking Williams to take a 5-3 lead.

The Australian took the set from there, and another break in the first game of the second set put Joint in a commanding position.

Williams rallied to level at 3-3, but Joint immediately broke back, only for her veteran opponent to do the same at the next time of asking.

Joint served for the match at 6-5 up in the tie-breaker, yet the nerves got the best of the 20 year-old and Williams pounced to flip the script.

Williams looked well poised to push on when she broke Joint to lead 2-1 in the decider, but the American great then lost the next four games.

A big hold of serve from Williams put the onus on Joint, and a double fault from the youngster ensured there was another reprieve for the superstar.

Yet an ace swiftly got Joint back to match point, and this time, she took full advantage, drawing a long return from Williams to cap a memorable victory.

Joint is the third Australian to defeat Williams in a major, and the first ever at Wimbledon.

"I didn't get much sleep, I was up until 2am just thinking about it," said Joint, who was not yet born when Williams won the first seven major titles of her career.

"I don't know how I got such a good start in the match. She has such an aura, such a legend, and this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.

"Just trying to come out on court and play a match against her, just the start was nerve-wracking – trying to finish out the match as well, she definitely lifted her level, she played some really great tennis there.

"My last couple of matches have been pretty good; I was playing pretty well. Even though I didn't win many matches this year, I still had belief. I just took advantage of the moment and enjoyed it."