THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London — Wimbledon’s Royal Box wasn’t packed with A-list celebrities Tuesday evening, despite the occasion. Movie stars, musicians and generational athletes didn’t dot the stands on Centre Court. There was no special ceremony ahead of Serena Williams’ first singles match in nearly four years. There isn’t even a separate night session at tennis’ oldest Grand Slam, and thus no natural way to single out what was perhaps the most anticipated match of the year.For a tournament with such meticulous dedication to tradition and history, there isn’t much pomp and circumstance about Wimbledon once the matches begin. Tennis is the whole show, and that’s enough.It’s also part of what made Wimbledon feel like the perfect setting for 44-year-old Williams’ return to Grand Slam tennis, a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 loss to the 20-year-old American-born Aussie Maya Joint.Grass is a comfortable surface for Williams, who won seven singles championships at Wimbledon. The timing of the tournament gives her a long runway, should she choose to play in front of home crowds at the U.S. Open later this summer.Beginning her singles comeback at Wimbledon felt appropriately special while keeping the focus on tennis. Tuesday felt like any other day at the All England Club. In New York, U.S. Open crowds would have almost certainly mobbed Williams the moment she stepped within public view. At Wimbledon, a group of politely interested onlookers watched her mid-afternoon practice with little fanfare. There were no fans on the grounds holding signs, or people clearly there for her match alone — Centre Court tickets are far too exclusive to obtain with little warning, and Williams only announced she was playing singles the week before.Why Serena Williams chose Wimbledon to return to playing singlesAva WallaceAfter months of speculation that morphed into anticipation a week ago, there was little buildup for the start of the match.Wimbledon does not sell separate night session tickets, so a slog of a four-set match won by French Open champion Alexander Zverev against Alexander Blockx rolled right into Williams’ return without ceremony.A short hype video played on the screen tastefully planted in the corner of Centre Court while many ticket-holders were still milling about the stadium, getting refreshments. Joint and Williams walked out one after the other without an emcee announcing their names.That’s the usual practice at Wimbledon. No flashing lights, no blaring music, no extra mustard, certainly not for a first-round match.