Serena Williams’ singles return at Wimbledon was watched by an average of 1.8 million viewers on ESPN, helping make it the network's biggest audience for a Day 2 at the grass-court Grand Slam. The match, which was the 44-year-old Williams’ first singles contest in nearly four years , had a peak of 2.1 million viewers despite being played on a Tuesday afternoon in the U.S, the network said Friday. Williams was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 by 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia but showed she could be competitive with an opponent less than half her age after being away for so long. The viewing figures were higher than for last year's men's semifinals , which averaged 1.3 million viewers on ESPN. Last year's men's final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz averaged nearly 2.9 million viewers.