Serena Williams’ return at Queen’s Club lasted one match after doubles partner Victoria Mboko withdrew with a knee injury, canceling the pair’s quarterfinal plans.
LONDON — Serena Williams’ much-hyped comeback to professional tennis at the Queen’s Club lasted just one match.
The 44-year-old teamed up with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in doubles, but Mboko was forced to withdraw on Thursday after sustaining a knee injury in a singles match against Karolina Pliskova in the last 16 on Wednesday.
The timing was brutal. Williams had returned to the grass-court spotlight by partnering with Mboko for their first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open. On Tuesday, they beat the third-seeded duo of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2.
That win set them up for the quarterfinals, where they were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund. With Mboko now out, those plans are gone for the week.
Williams, though, already has a next stop in sight. She is set to play doubles at the Berlin Open in Germany next week. Her partner for the tournament has yet to be announced, though British newspaper The Times of London reported it was Karolina Muchova.
Williams’ brief return also comes with the context of her earlier decision to step away. She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before leaving the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than “retiring.”
So the story of this Queen’s Club week is shaped less by what happened on court than by what happened around it: one match of momentum, then a knee injury that stops the run before it can properly begin.
Serena Williams Victoria Mboko Queen's Club Wimbledon Berlin Open Karolina Pliskova doubles injury
Dang, one match and then knee injury. That’s rough.
I swear injuries always ruin the “comeback” narratives. Also why is it her partner’s knee, like shouldn’t Serena just solo the doubles? lol
So Mboko got hurt in singles vs Pliskova and then Williams’ doubles just vanished, right? That seems like bad scheduling on purpose or something. I mean it’s tennis but come on, quarterfinal plans cancelled over one knee.
Wait Serena’s “not retiring” thing but then it’s like she’s barely back and already missing matches. I heard somewhere the next partner was Muchova too, but I don’t even know if that’s true. Queen’s Club is supposed to be her comeback but this week basically got cut off immediately.