Serena Williams' Wimbledon comeback at 44 has been sensationally dynamited on Centre Court by Australian Maya Joint, who delivered a stunning performance to out-battle and finally subdue the hugely impressive returning legend.
In the match of her life, the 20-year-old Queenslander produced the best display of her career to prevail 6-3 6-7(8) 6-3, withstanding everything that the player who may be the game's greatest ever could throw at her.
Joint overcame the disappointment of missing out on a match point when on the verge of a straight-sets win, then battled back after Williams had roared into a third-set lead to seal a monumental triumph in a two hour, 22-minute classic.
The win left Joint almost speechless.
"She has such an aura, she's such a legend," she said about her first-round opponent. "I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy."
Joint was one of four Australian winners on Tuesday, joining Kimberly Birrell, Alex de Minaur and James Duckworth in the second round at SW19.
Like Joint, it was Birrell's first career win in the main draw at Wimbledon.
READ MORE: De Minaur casts off nerves to advance at Wimbledon
For though Williams may have been inevitably rusty after nearly four years away from singles action, she was still astonishingly impressive, almost unbelievably so, three months before her 45th birthday.
Yet the Australian teenager remained strong, even as seemingly all the crowd were baying for a sentimental Serena triumph under the Centre Court roof, perhaps proving how much the game has moved on in the 23-time Slam champion's absence.
Joint had lost 13 of her previous 14 matches stretching back to January. However, she fired 40 winners in the victory, proving she was still a cut above Williams, who threw her best punches, only to have them, for the large part, returned with interest.
The world No.87 will take confidence into her next match, facing Alexandra Eala in a rematch of their epic Eastbourne final from last year.
Aussies in action: Wimbledon
RESULTS – Day 2
Women’s singles, first round
Maya Joint (AUS) d [WC] Serena Williams 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3
Kimberly Birrell (AUS) d [Q] Alina Korneeva 6-3 0-6 6-2
[Q] Mariam Bolkvadze (GEO) d Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-2 2-6 6-4
[21] Marie Bouzkova (CZE) d Talia Gibson (AUS) 6-1 3-6 6-2
Men’s singles, first round
[5] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Roman Andres Burruchaga (ARG) 7-6(5) 6-1 6-0
James Duckworth (AUS) d Tallon Griekspoor (NED) 6-4 4-6 7-5 6-4
[10] Alexander Bublik (KAZ) d Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 4-6 6-3 6-7(10) 6-3 6-4
[WC] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) d [Q] Dane Sweeny (AUS) 7-6(4) 6-3 7-5
[13] Jiri Lehecka (CZE) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-4 6-2 6-4
Jesper de Jong (NED) d Rinky Hijikata (AUS) 7-6(4) 3-6 5-7 6-4 6-3
You can watch Wimbledon on the channels of the Nine Network and Stan Sport.