ESPN Ripped For Hyping Up Serena Williams’ Return To Wimbledon

At least one prominent media member isn’t thrilled with the way ESPN handled Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon.

Williams, 44, faced off against Maya Joint in the first round at Wimbledon. It was her first match in a Grand Slam tournament since the 2022 US Open. Unfortunately for the 23-time major champion, she suffered a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss on Centre Court.

Obviously, ESPN hyped up Williams’ return to the WTA Tour since she’s widely regarded as one of the greats. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, however, thinks the network overdid it with its coverage of Williams.

“They played up Serena Williams like you wouldn’t believe. And then Serena got her [expletive] handed to her. She lost her last five games to a kid who hadn’t won a match in six months, who then lost in the next round in the third set 6-0,” Russo said, via Awful Announcing. “You would have thought Serena was doing something heroic. I mean, take it easy, will ya? She came back to play a first-round match at Wimbledon after three or four years, lost to a person who hadn’t won a match on the pro tour since January.

“Can we take it easy? You would have thought with ESPN’s commentary that this was the greatest thing in the history of watching tennis. And I know the ratings were good, but that only shows you and tells you that Serena brings in the casual fan. Because I spoke to a million big tennis fans, a million of them, and they could care less. And a lot of them, by the way, worked at the network. Hijacking the whole thing, and she got beat.”

It was a tough return to the spotlight for Serena.

Not only did Williams lose her opening match at Wimbledon, she suffered a knee injury that forced her to pull out of the women’s doubles draw with her sister Venus.

“I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete,” Williams wrote on Instagram. “I’m especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful…..All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you… The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes! The good news is my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn’t able to get it ready for doubles.”

It’s unclear if Williams will compete at the US Open later this summer. If so, “Mad Dog” will be heavily monitoring ESPN’s tennis coverage.

This story was originally published by The Spun on Jul 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Tennis section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.