Serena Williams’ tennis comeback at the Queen’s Club ends after injury to doubles partner

Serena Williams’ comeback to professional tennis at the Queen’s Club has ended after one match.

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The 44-year-old Williams’ doubles partner, 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the draw on Thursday, June 11, because of a knee injury she sustained in a singles match against Karolina Pliskova in the last 16 on Wednesday.

In her first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open, Williams teamed up with Mboko to beat third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the grass-court event on Tuesday. They were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals.

Her withdrawal from the women’s doubles was confirmed on Thursday morning, with Fernandez and Siegemund receiving a bye to the semis, ending Williams’ comeback.

Her return was only confirmed last week after announcing her partnership with Mboko at Queen’s Club.

On why she returned to tennis, Williams said: “I had nothing better to do, I got tired of sitting at home. My kids are out of school for the summer, so why not?

“I never got to play here, it was always just the men. It feels really special to play somewhere so iconic.”

Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before stepping away from the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than “retiring.”