43-year-old Venus Williams disagreed with the umpire’s decision that led to her losing 4-6, 3-6 to Elina Svitolina in the first round of the Wimbledon women’s singles.

In the ninth game of the second set, Svitolina returned the ball when facing the deciding point of the match. The ball flew a bit deep and the moment the line judge called “ball out”, Williams also returned the error. The Ukrainian player complained and the ball still licked the line, so it was still in the court. The umpire awarded the point to Svitolina, meaning victory for the 29-year-old player.

According to Tennis Discovery, Williams had reason to complain because the line judge called the ball out, and this could have affected her shot. However, players often try to return the ball back into the court in such cases, so the umpire can replay the point.

The American player shook hands with Svitolina, then shook her head as she passed in front of the umpire. After the match, the 43-year-old said that she “completely disagreed with the umpire’s decision”.

Grass is Williams’s favourite court, having won five of her seven Grand Slam singles titles there. Svitolina has the lowest win percentage on grass, despite reaching the 2019 Wimbledon semi-finals. The Wimbledon turf was also damp on opening day due to rain.

Williams started the match in the better position, leading 2-0 in the first set, but slipped at the net and lost her service game. From there, she was beaten and eliminated. “I started great and destroyed the match, but the court destroyed me,” she said. “The injury was throbbing and it was hard to get back into the match.”

Wimbledon is Williams’s first Grand Slam this year, and she was aiming to become the oldest player to win a main-draw match, but failed. Both Williams and Svitolina entered the tournament on wildcards. Svitolina will face Elise Mertens in the second round.