Key Points
- Williams, 44, and Victoria Mboko won their first-round doubles match — her first since the 2022 US Open.
- Mboko, 19, hurt her left knee in singles against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.
- Organizers confirmed Thursday that Mboko's withdrawal ends Williams' Queen's Club run.
- Williams says she will play the Berlin Open next week; a Wimbledon return is uncertain.
Serena Williams' comeback lasted exactly one match — and she won it. Days after she announced her return and accepted a Queen's Club wild card, Williams and 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko opened their doubles campaign with a straight-sets first-round win, Williams' first competitive match since the 2022 US Open. Then the draw closed it for her: Mboko hurt her left knee in singles on Wednesday and withdrew, ending the pair's run before their quarterfinal.
What happened
Williams, 44, and Mboko beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in straight sets in the first round at the HSBC Championships on Tuesday. They were due to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday, Mboko slipped and landed awkwardly during her singles match against Karolina Pliskova, hurt her left knee, and retired. Thursday morning, organizers confirmed she was out of the doubles, ending Williams' tournament.
The comeback is real
The abrupt ending shouldn't obscure the result. Williams had not played a competitive match in nearly four years, walked onto grass with a teenage partner, and won. "It feels really special to play somewhere so iconic," she said. Asked why she came back, she was blunt: "I don't know. I had nothing better to do. I got tired of sitting at home." She is taking it "a day at a time."
What's next
Williams confirmed she will play next week's Berlin Open. A return to Wimbledon — the tournament this grass swing builds toward, and where she won seven singles titles — remains unconfirmed. For now the comeback survives its first scare: not her body, but her partner's.
Source: ESPN, Yahoo Sports
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