Technology

NASA's new prototype rover ERNEST is made to test technologies for moon and mars exploration.

Discover how modern banking apps help parents teach their kids financial responsibility in an increasingly cashless world. Learn how to set spending limits, assign chores, and build smart money habits from childhood to the early adult years.

South Korea’s World Cup exit did not just end with a sad locker room and fans yelling at their TVs. It has made its way across the president's desk.

After South Korea’s elimination from Group A on Saturday, June 27, head coach Hong Myung-bo resigned the next day, ending a turbulent second stint in charge of the national team.

"I deeply apologize to the Korean public who supported our team. Today, I am stepping down," Hong said in a press conference. "Taking this job was never an easy choice, but from the moment I accepted it, my only focus was to fulfill my duties responsibly until the end."

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But the fallout from the loss did not stop with him.

On Sunday, June 28, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for a formal government investigation into the team’s disappointing tournament, while fan anger spilled from social media into real-world security concerns ahead of the squad’s return home.

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On paper, South Korea’s tournament wasn't all bad. The team opened with a 2-1 win over Czechia before losing 0-1 to Mexico, which meant the final group match against South Africa mattered: A win would have put South Korea in a much stronger position to advance, and even a draw could have helped its case under the expanded World Cup format, which allows the eight best third-place teams to reach the Round of 32. Instead, South Korea lost 0-1, finished third in Group A with three points, and had to wait for other results to learn whether that would be enough. Spoiler: it wasn’t.

It was Hong’s lineup choice against South Africa, though, that enraged fans the most. In the match South Korea needed to rescue its tournament, Hong left Son Heung-min out of the starting lineup, saying afterward that he planned to use him later when South Africa was tired. Son came on at halftime, but by then South Korea was already chasing the game.

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Hong later admitted he would not make the same decision again, but by then the damage had already been done. And the wave of hate from home that has gone far beyond standard post-tournament disappointment.

Reports out of South Korea have described online death threats against Hong, heightened police security ahead of the team’s return to Incheon International Airport, and furious fan reaction across social media.

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Fans are especially frustrated because South Korea had enough talent to expect more. The team included Son Heung-min, one of Asia’s biggest soccer stars, along with European-based players like Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae. Son Heung-min, the team’s captain, has posted a lengthy apology on Instagram, asking supporters not to direct excessive criticism and hurt toward the players.

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Hong's return as head coach in 2024 had already been controversial, with fans questioning whether the Korea Football Association had run a fair hiring process. The sports ministry previously alleged that the KFA had not followed its own procedures, including reportedly "a reasonable interview process."

President Lee made clear that he sees the collapse as more than a bad coaching spell. In a statement posted to social media, Lee said he felt "not just confusion but utter bewilderment" over the result and argued that South Korea’s early exit reflected deeper problems with leadership and personnel decisions.

"When favoritism and cronyism take precedence over competence in selecting a commander, the result is as predictable as fire burning paper," Lee wrote.

Lee also pointed to the taxpayer money and state resources used to support the national team, making the case that the World Cup failure was not just a private soccer matter. Because public money goes into the team’s participation, he argued, the public is owed a clearer explanation of what went wrong. He called on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate the circumstances around the exit, analyze the causes, and propose reforms to prevent a repeat.

If that sounds like an unusually dramatic response to a World Cup exit, it is not entirely without precedent.

The closest comparison may be France in 2010, when Les Bleus imploded at the World Cup in South Africa after Nicolas Anelka was sent home and the players boycotted training in protest. The disaster quickly moved beyond the locker room: then-President Nicolas Sarkozy publicly condemned the team’s behavior, captain Thierry Henry was brought to the Élysée Palace, and France’s parliament held hearings into the national team’s failure.

For Hong, this ending is especially complicated. As a player, he remains one of the most important figures in South Korean soccer history, having captained the country during its historic run to the 2002 World Cup semifinals. As a coach, though, both of his World Cup stints with the national team have ended in group-stage disappointment: first in 2014, and now again in 2026.

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There were security concerns around Hong's return home. It seems to be just as rowdy as they expected, according to video footage from the airport at 4 a.m., where fans were waiting in the Arrivals hall armed with insults.

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This, alarmingly, is not the first time South Korean fans have quite literally thrown eggs at their home team.

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For South Korea, the World Cup may be over, but its clear a very dramatic postmortem is just getting started.

Reports say Samsung will expand its Galaxy S27 line to four phones with the addition of the new Galaxy S27 Pro. It's designed for those who want Ultra-level power in a smaller body. Here's everything we've heard, including a privacy feature that debuted on the Ultra.

Streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus have huge global libraries. The only problem is accessing them from one place. Here's how to use a VPN to watch virtually everything online. 

We tested the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ with Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme processor. With a chip designed specifically for PC gaming handhelds, what type of gaming frame rates can you expect?

That's it, stick a fork in June, it's done. And while Paramount+ knocked out some solid hits, from Scream 7 and a new season of The Agency to Beavis and Butt-Head to, oh yeah, the UFC at the White House, there are still some solid movies in its formidable library to get you through the month's final week.

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TL;DR: Live stream Netherlands vs. Morocco in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN, an Official Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup showcases three huge games from the Round of 32 on June 29, including Netherlands vs. Morocco.

The Netherlands have looked really impressive in this tournament at times, but they've also shown some vulnerable flashes. Morocco, on the other hand, stunned Brazil with their quality in the group stage and notched up comfortable wins against Scotland and Haiti. All of which makes this an interesting matchup. You could easily imagine this contest taking place much later in the tournament.

If you want to watch Netherlands vs. Morocco in the 2026 FIFA World Cup from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Netherlands vs. Morocco?

Netherlands vs. Morocco in the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at 9 p.m. ET on June 29. This fixture takes place at Monterrey Stadium.

How to watch Netherlands vs. Morocco for free

Netherlands vs. Morocco in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is available to live stream for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX to live stream the 2026 World Cup for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Netherlands vs. Morocco for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit ITVX

5. Watch Netherlands vs. Morocco for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the 2026 World Cup without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Netherlands vs. Morocco (plus more World Cup fixtures) before recovering your investment.

ExpressVPN's regular 30-day money-back guarantee is not available for any subscriptions purchased during the FIFA World Cup between June 10 and July 11. ExpressVPN remains our top pick for sport, but you will need to pay the monthly rate. Alternatively, Proton VPN still offers that all-important money-back guarantee.

What is the best VPN for ITVX?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99. That covers you for the duration of the World Cup.

Live stream Netherlands vs. Morocco in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free.

Most EVs, like their gasoline counterparts, require owners to return to the dealership for regular maintenance. All legacy automakers selling electric vehicles have service and repair models built around their specific dealer networks, training, and tools. How readily available that service and repair information is to owners, independent shops, and the general public is the subject of an ongoing debate known as Right to Repair.

It's been a week since President Trump signed an executive order directing a whole-of-government push on quantum computing — funding it, securing its supply chains, building its workforce, and making sure adversaries like China don't get there first.

This marks a significant federal commitment to a technology that is either the next great computing revolution, or the most expensive science experiment in history, depending on the expert opinion. But one thing it can do: replace AI as the carrier of long-term hopes for the tech industry.

This would be the right moment for a switch, as the vibe shifts on AI itself: models are more expensive to train, returns are harder to demonstrate. Investors who have sent AI stock soaring may soon be looking for the next big thing to believe in.

Quantum computing — with its theoretical promise of solving problems that would take classical computers millennia — is a real and genuinely fascinating technology. It's just a lot more complicated, and further away, than the White House-led hype suggests.

What is quantum computing?

Your laptop processes information in bits. Tiny switches in a computer see data in binary code: either as a 0 or a 1. Quantum computers swap those out for qubits, which can exist as 0, 1, or a combination of both at the same time — a property called superposition.

Which, if we can harness it, would fundamentally supercharge everything a computer can do.

As IBM describes it, think of solving a maze. A classical computer tries every path until it finds the exit. A quantum computer, by using the interference patterns of qubits — the way their probability waves cancel out wrong answers and amplify right ones — can zero in on solutions without brute-forcing every option.

Add entanglement, where qubits become so linked that measuring one instantly tells you about others, and you have a machine that approaches certain problems in a completely different way than anything humanity has built before.

For one thing, researchers say, a fully functional quantum computer would likely mean the death of Bitcoin.

What can it do?

Still, the most credible near-term applications are in science and industry, not consumer tech. Quantum computers are particularly well-suited to simulating molecular behavior — which could dramatically accelerate drug discovery and materials science — and to crunching complex optimization problems in finance and logistics.

According to IBM, the field is projected to grow into a $1.3 trillion industry by 2035, with major players like Google and Microsoft, as well as startups like IonQ, already investing heavily.

An MIT report from 2025 found that quantum computing patents have grown fivefold over the last decade, venture capital hit a new high of $1.6 billion in 2024, and demand for quantum skills has nearly tripled since 2018.

Business executives, the report noted, are increasingly "quantum curious" — in part because watching AI explode taught them not to sleep on the next big thing.

Why is there a 'but'?

The gap between what quantum computers can theoretically do, and what they can actually do right now, remains enormous.

According to IBM, current quantum processors are fragile, error-prone, and require cooling to temperatures colder than outer space to function. A researcher on r/Physics who works in quantum information put it plainly: the commercial use cases are "speculative at best," and the classical computing baseline is "shifting so fast it's impossible to get a read on the gap."

Engineering bottlenecks, such as error correction, qubit stability, and scaling, also remain major unsolved problems. IBM says it's targeting 200 logical qubits by 2029 and 2,000 by 2033. These are timelines that make quantum computing a decades-long project, not an imminent revolution.

Why is the Trump administration suddenly all in?

Last week, President Trump signed Executive Order 14413, directing a sweeping whole-of-government push to accelerate quantum computing research, secure domestic supply chains, expand the quantum workforce, and prevent adversaries — China specifically holds 60 percent of global quantum patents, per MIT's report — from gaining a strategic edge.

The order establishes a new effort to build a quantum computer at a Department of Energy facility and sets aggressive timelines across multiple agencies.

It's a legitimate national security concern, dressed up in the language of a tech boom. Like fusion power, quantum computing is real and will matter — probably a lot — but the current moment looks a lot like the early AI hype cycle. Expect lots of startups with "quantum" in their name to launch as a result.

The biggest user-facing feature in Android 17 is App Bubbles. It’s a brand new way to multitask—well, it’s brand new if you’re a Pixel owner. Samsung has beaten Google to countless ideas over the years, and App Bubbles is just the latest.

Meta is finally preparing to roll out usernames on WhatsApp so users no longer have to share their phone number on the app. And users can reserve their preferred username right now.

WhatsApp has been integrating usernames into the platform for more than a year now, after the feature was discovered in a beta version of the app.

Now, it seems Meta is finally ready to roll out the new feature as WhatsApp is now letting users reserve usernames. 

"It’s time to reserve your WhatsApp username," reads a blog post on WhatsApps' website.

To reserve your WhatsApp username, simply open up the WhatsApp mobile app, go to your account settings, and tap "Username" under the "Your account" section.

"Usernames are coming soon," reads the window that opens up. "Reserve yours today."

Users can then choose to create a new username or use their Instagram or Facebook username.

WhatsApp users should reserve their chosen username as soon as possible. However, it seems users who just want to use their Facebook or Instagram username have no need to rush. WhatsApp confirmed in a post that the company "knows that some people like creators, small businesses, and organizations may want to maintain a consistent presence online" and so "for them, we reserved an option to claim their existing Instagram or Facebook username on WhatsApp."

When I attempted to register my preferred username, it said it was unavailable, but I could log in to Instagram or Facebook and choose it if it was the same username I used on those platforms (it was). Once logged into my Instagram account via WhatsApp, my preferred WhatsApp username suddenly became available.

Usernames have long been requested on WhatsApp. Users are forced to use their phone number as their WhatsApp identity, which creates obvious problems if they want to keep their phone number separate from their WhatsApp presence.

With more than 3 billion users on the platform, WhatsApp usernames will likely go fast, so if you don't already have your preferred username reserved via Facebook or Instagram, you should probably go register it now.

Alex, Aaron, and Andrew of the Wassabi Brothers have experienced the creator economy from three different vantage points.

Alex and Aaron came of age alongside YouTube, when uploading videos was simply a hobby. There were no brand deals, no creator economy, and no expectation that making content could become a full-time career. Andrew, meanwhile, represents a new generation of creators, navigating an internet shaped by TikTok, Shorts, livestreaming, and Gen Z trends — so much so that he's often the one teaching his older brothers which phrases have already fallen out of fashion.

That mix of perspectives makes for an insightful conversation in this edition of Creator Playbook, where the trio reflects on how dramatically the creator landscape has changed and which lessons have remained surprisingly timeless.

The brothers discuss why subscriber counts aren't the defining metric they once were, why community matters more than ever, and how they're continuing to experiment with new formats as audience habits evolve. They also open up about creator burnout, the return of long-form video, and why adaptability has become one of the most valuable skills a creator can develop.

Despite coming from different generations of the internet, the brothers agree on the fundamentals: stay consistent, keep experimenting, and don't let one disappointing upload stop you from creating.

"Everybody sucks at first," Alex, who has over 11 million subs on YouTube, tells Mashable. "Just keep going."

Watch the full Creator Playbook interview above.

The future of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is looking bright. Literally.

According to a prolific Samsung leaker known as Ice Universe on Weibo, Samsung is incorporating an AMOLED display into the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 that's expected to reach a brightness of a whopping 5,000 nits.

Nits are the standard unit of measurement for the brightness of a display or screen. And for those unfamiliar with it, 5,000 nits is really, really bright. To really drive home the potentially record-breaking brightness of the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, let's compare it to other devices. 

According to Mashable's sister site CNET, most consumer-level televisions have a maximum brightness between 1,000 and 1,500 nits.

Both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and current Galaxy Watch Ultra reach a maximum display brightness of 3,000 nits. The latest Apple Watch Series 11 reaches 2,000 nits, and the Apple Watch Ultra 3 can reach 3,000 nits.

The title of brightest display on a smartwatch currently belongs to Garmin's flagship $2,000 smartwatch, the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. The microLED display on the Fenix 8 Pro reaches a maximum of 4,500 nits. That's really bright, but if Ice Universe is to be believed, Samsung is planning to beat it.

To really put things into perspective, let's look at TCL's flagship television model, the TCL X11L SQD Mini-LED, which has what is largely considered to be one of the brightest TV displays. The 85-inch model has a maximum brightness of 10,000 nits. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 reportedly has a 1.5-inch circular AMOLED display, which can get half as bright as an 85-inch TV set.

Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event is next month and the company will very likely officially announce the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 there, along with a release date. We'll find out very soon just how bright this smartwatch can get.

The automotive industry is changing at a pace that few could have predicted. Stricter emissions regulations, rising development costs, electrification, and shifting consumer preferences are forcing automakers to make difficult decisions about which models deserve a future and which ones have reached the end of the road.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that police must obtain warrants to conduct wide searches of cell phone data at crime scenes, also known as "geofence" searches.

In its ruling on Chatrie v. United States, the justices said that Americans are entitled to privacy with the location data their phones track, even if they consent to sharing it with tech companies like Google and Apple.

The case involved Okello T. Chatrie, a man convicted of robbing a Virginia bank in 2019. Prosecutors obtained a warrant for a geofence search that captured location data near the bank around the time of the robbery and, as a result, identified Chatrie as a suspect. Geofence searches draw a digital fence around a crime scene and pull data from all digital devices within that space.

Even with the warrant, Chatrie's lawyers claimed the government sought an "overly broad set of data that violated the Fourth Amendment," the New York Times reports. The Fourth Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

SEE ALSO: The FCC's proposed plan to fight spam calls puts consumer privacy in jeopardy

The Justice Department claimed the government did not need a warrant to view anonymous location data, especially since users had already acquiesced to tech companies tracking that data. A majority of the justices disagreed.

"An individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cell phone’s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information — even though for only a limited time, and from a third-party tech company," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority. Kagan was joined in the decision by Justices Roberts, Sotomayor, Jackson, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch (the latter agreed with the ruling but not its rationale, according to the Times).

Most smartphone track user location every few minutes, though users can view, edit, and delete that data. Google Maps is one of the most common ways Big Tech tracks movements, with more than 1 billion daily users. Chatrie's lawyers argued to the justices that his location data was private since it was password-protected.

Google has tried to get ahead of the legal complications surrounding data tracking. The company announced three years ago that it would store location data on individual phones rather than on Google servers, allowing it to avoid complying with location requests.

Even though Google found a workaround, the government has requested such location data from other companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Snapchat, and Uber.

While the justices ruled on the broader legality of the government seeking private data, they did not rule on the warrant used in the Chatrie case, instead sending it back to an appeals court.

If there was one thing content creator Sidney Raskind knew for sure when he graduated high school, it's that he didn't want a desk job.

It took him a little longer to realize that he had even more clarity than that — he wanted to be a YouTuber (spoiler alert: he did it). Mashable caught up with him at VidCon 2026 to learn more about the journey that behind his graduation, to the content that helped him break through and go full time — life hacks and, as Raskind's says in nearly all his videos, things he didn't know until he was in his 30s.

What kept him going?

"I used to say spite," he joked with Mashable reporter Bethany Allard. But more than proving that he could escape the clutches of a desk job, Raskind knew he had a passion, and one that he could find success with. Especially since the barrier to entry for making videos online wasn't too high.

SEE ALSO: These are Sidney Raz's content essentials after nearly 20 years as a creator

"When I came to the very first VidCon, I was, I was looking on stage and I thought, 'I can do this, too,'" he said.

With 4.6 million followers on TikTok and the title of being a featured creator at VidCon, it's clear Raskin was on to something. As for folks who hope to one day make it too, Raskind offered this:

" My biggest piece of advice is something that Seth Rogen said, which is, 'If you stop, you won't, you will always not get there. But if you keep trying and you keep going, then there is a possibility that you will get there.' It took me 15 years to figure out the content format and general understanding until it worked, and I just never stopped stopping, as they say in 'Popstar'."

You can watch the whole interview above, and for all things VidCon, Mashable has you covered.

Google just launched a new version of Android. It might take a bit to install, so you might as well brush up on what it has to offer while you wait.

Android 17 officially launched earlier this month, so if you have a Pixel or Samsung phone, you might as well get the download started. It brings several new features to play with, so without wasting any more time, let's dig in. Here are some of the top Android 17 features to anticipate as you watch that install progress on your phone screen.

SEE ALSO: Google officially launches Android 17 Bubbles enable better multitasking Timely! Credit: Google

A couple of these updates are intended for or best used on foldables or other "large screen devices," as Google calls them. The first one of these is Bubbles, an easy way to multitask on your mobile device.

All you have to do is long-press an app icon to turn it into a floating window that you can move around and resize as needed. It can live on top of another open app, so if you want to livestream a World Cup game in one window and react to it with your homies in a group chat at the same time, you can do that. It sounds very intuitive and useful, which is what we want to see out of any free software updates.

Better gaming on foldable devices That looks handy. Credit: Google

Speaking of foldables, Google has also enhanced the gaming experience on these devices with Android 17. If you have something like a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, you can orient it in landscape mode and use a new layout where the game is displayed on the top half of the screen, while a virtual controller is on the bottom half. A lot of mobile games overlay virtual controls on top of the gameplay, but this would theoretically allow you to game without all that stuff getting in the way. Another win for foldables.

Record screen reactions for your social feeds Everyone has to react to everything all the time. Credit: Screenshot: Google

We live in a world where everything warrants a reaction for social media. These days, that often takes the form of someone talking into their selfie camera in front of an image of whatever they're reacting to. With Android 17, you can do that easily. Google says it takes "just a few taps" to overlay yourself on top of an image or viral clip, at which point you can get to yapping about it. That engagement won't generate itself, folks, but Android 17 comes pretty close to doing it all for you.

Enhanced parental controls

Parental controls are not necessarily "exciting" according to the dictionary definition of the word, but they are good and important. With Android 17, Google has added some much-needed new safety features for kids. They originally launched on Pixel devices late last year, but now they're available for everything that runs Android.

With these features, you can do things like filter Google Play downloads, set a time for the device to lock down every night, and set screen time limits for the young ones. None of these are revolutionary, but they are vital to making sure your kid doesn't develop a debilitating screen addiction.

Lock down your lost phone This might save a lot of headaches for people. Credit: Google

Lastly, we have another feature that may not be "exciting" in the traditional sense, but will absolutely save lots of money and prevent lots of stress for Android device owners.

Mark as Lost is a new feature that will allow you to remotely lock down a missing phone using Find Hub. Even if the amoral brigand who pilfered your device has your PIN, they won't be able to open the phone without your biometrics. You may not be able to get the phone back, but they won't be able to do anything with it, either.

A first-round match at Wimbledon is not usually treated like the main event. Serena Williams’ return is one of the exceptions.

Williams, 44, is set to play 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint on Tuesday, June 30, in her first Wimbledon singles match since 2022, and tennis fans are abuzz with anticipation.

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Williams has not played a singles match since the 2022 U.S. Open, where she "evolved away" from professional tennis after a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic. In the years since, she has had a second child, expanded her business life, and moved into the kind of post-tennis chapter most fans assumed was permanent.

SEE ALSO: Serena Williams dances in Kendrick Lamar's halftime show. Yes, there's an alleged Drake connection.

The comeback did not come out of nowhere. Williams has been inching back onto the court since 2025. But the singles decision, according to Williams, was not automatic. At her pre-tournament press conference, she said Wimbledon had held a wild card for her and that she was still unsure until the final days before the draw.

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Part of the hesitation, Williams said, came from what returning to professional tennis required off the court. To compete again, she had to re-enter tennis’ anti-doping testing pool and make herself available under the sport’s whereabouts rules, which require players to provide a daily one-hour testing window and keep officials updated on where they can be found.

Williams told reporters that the process has been "grueling," especially as someone balancing tennis with children, travel, and running multiple businesses. She said she understands why testing is necessary, but argued that parts of the system feel unreasonable for players whose lives do not fit neatly into one location or one schedule.

Ultimately, though, "I thought I should really take this opportunity,” Williams said. “Who knows if I’ll ever make it here again? This could be it.”

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Williams has won seven Wimbledon singles titles and 23 Grand Slam singles titles overall. This time, though, Williams has said her expectations are different. She has talked less about chasing history and more about enjoying the chance to compete again.

Tennis players have spoken about the comeback as a major moment for the sport. Novak Djokovic called it "inspirational" and "epic," while Aryna Sabalenka said Williams' return is bringing more eyes to tennis. Online, fans have followed her practice sessions, press conference quotes, wild-card news, and even prediction-market movement around whether she would actually take the court.

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But the reaction has not been entirely celebratory.

Williams’ wild card has also reopened a debate about access and fairness at Grand Slam tournaments. Wild cards are discretionary entries, meaning tournaments can award them to players who do not qualify strictly through ranking. In Williams’ case, Wimbledon left its final women’s singles wild-card spot open before giving it to her.

That decision has frustrated some fans, who argue that a player active on tour could have used that spot, and Williams should remain retired.

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On the other hand, Williams' draw is also bringing eyes to her opponent, Maya Joint. Joint was born after Williams had already won several Grand Slam titles, and she has spoken about Williams with nothing but respect.

“It’s an honor,” Joint told the WTA. “I always dreamed about playing Serena Williams, and if you’d told me 10 years ago that I’d be playing her first round at Wimbledon, that’s just crazy.”

Nevertheless, a win over Williams at Wimbledon would be career-cementing for her.

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The result could become a Serena comeback moment, a Maya Joint breakout, or simply an early look at what this version of Williams can still bring to the court. Either way, it has already become bigger than a normal first-round match, and us at Mashable will be tuning in.