Australian Maya Joint has risen to the occasion and ended her idol Serena Williams’ return to singles tennis with a statement 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 win inside Centre Court at Wimbledon.

Joint entered the grand slam with just one win from her last 14 matches at all levels in a difficult second season as a top-line WTA pro — but still regular tennis paid off against the American legend.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Wimbledon stunned as Aussie rises to spoil Serena Williams’ comeback

Joint took the lead with a crucial break in the eighth game of the match and fought extremely hard late in the second set in a bid to spoil the highly anticipated comeback without the tension of a deciding frame.

Instead Williams, 44, battled back and had Centre Court rocking under its closed roof, only to fall short against the nervous but inspired American-born Aussie in the third and final set.

Joint served a double fault on her first match point but, after an ace brought up her second, made no mistake much to her muted delight.

“I really don’t know what to say right now,” the 20-year-old said, with her overjoyed mum joined in the stands by proud mentor Sam Stosur.

“I don’t know what’s happening, to be honest ... I didn’t get much sleep last night, I was up till like 2am thinking about it.

“Walking out, I forgot the warm-up, my legs weren’t moving, I really don’t know how I got a pretty good start in the match.”

Joint conceded she had to battle much more than just Williams’ “aura”.

“She’s such a legend and this court has so many huge names who have played on it. I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid so this is pretty crazy,” she said.

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

Williams’ career has now resumed the same way it ended four years ago, with defeat to an Australian, after Ajla Tomljanovic knocked her out of the 2022 US Open.

But the 44-year-old, who had Australian doubles great Rennae Stubbs in her box as coach, will stick around this time to link up with sister Venus as they restart a partnership that won six Wimbledon doubles titles from 2000 to 2016.

Joint, meanwhile, progresses to a second-round clash with another popular star in the Philippines’ 29th seed Alexandra Eala.

Joint has been heavily supported during her slump by Stosur, who had her own shining moment against Williams in the 2011 US Open final, and tipped by the Australian champion to lift her game at Wimbledon.

“We’re all talking about Maya because we’re all from from Australia — but you can’t tell me Serena isn’t going to be nervous, too,” Stosur said.

“I just watched her practice, Maya’s hitting the ball great, playing well. This is a real chance; you see some people step up, and you see some sort of hide away and be cowed, and we’ve all seen (with her two WTA titles) that she can be the one who steps up. This is another chance for her to show that.”

Stosur urged Joint not to overcomplicate tennis just because of her opponent, advice that held true in the biggest set of her life.

“My last couple of matches have been pretty good, I was playing pretty well,” Joint said of her losing streak.

“Even though I didn’t win many matches this year I still felt like I could win, I had the belief and I just took advantage of the moment, just enjoyed it, didn’t really think about the previous matches I played.

“They pulled me through everything, the box is full, thank you guys for coming, thanks for sticking with me the whole time. They pulled through this match and they’ve pulled me through all the matches I’ve ever played in my career, so thank you guys.”