The competitive return of American tennis icon Serena Williams was cut short today due to an injury to her doubles partner, Victoria Mboko, at the Queen’s Club Championships, the WTA confirmed. The 19-year-old Canadian player suffered a knee injury on Wednesday after slipping on the grass during her singles match against Czech veteran Karolina Pliskova, forcing her to withdraw from the tournament entirely.
Williams, now 44, originally stepped away from professional tennis following the 2022 US Open, concluding her legendary career as the most decorated singles player of the Open Era with 23 Grand Slam titles. In their opening match of this unexpected comeback, Williams and Mboko had looked sharp, defeating the third-seeded duo of American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Erin Routliffe in straight sets, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
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The former world number one is still expected to continue her comeback next week at the upcoming tournament in Berlin, Germany, though her new doubles partner for the event has not yet been announced. Over her historic career, Williams amassed an incredible 73 singles titles, 23 women’s doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles on the professional circuit.
Alongside her sister Venus, she captured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and remains the only tennis player in history to achieve a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles formats. Her remarkable Olympic legacy includes winning the singles gold medal at London 2012, in addition to three doubles gold medals alongside her sister.
