Serena Williams’s much-anticipated return to competitive tennis has been cut short due to an injury sustained by her doubles partner, Victoria Mboko, during the Queen’s Club tournament. Mboko had to withdraw after injuring her knee when she slipped on the grass during her singles match.
Williams, making her comeback at the age of 44 after a four-year hiatus, teamed up with Mboko on Tuesday, achieving a stunning victory over the third-seeded duo of Nicole Melichar Martinez and Erin Routliffe with a score of 7-6(2), 6-2. The pair was set to compete against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday afternoon.
Mboko, who entered the tournament as the third seed and received a first-round bye, played her initial singles match on Wednesday. After dropping the first set against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, she earned a break point in the second set before suffering a severe fall. After being wrongfooted, she slipped on the grass, immediately grasping her left knee and subsequently retiring from the match.
The grass courts at Queen’s Club are renowned for their exceptional quality, but they can be particularly slippery during the early stages of the tournament. Previous editions have seen male players similarly injured after encountering difficulties on the slick surface.
Following this incident, Williams is scheduled to head to Berlin, where she has been granted a wildcard for doubles. She is also expected to be among the wildcard entries at Wimbledon, with official announcements anticipated next week. Williams has not dismissed the possibility of participating at Wimbledon, where she has historically excelled, stating after her recent victory.
“They have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.”
The immediate future of Mboko, one of the rising stars on the circuit, remains uncertain as she deals with the ramifications of her injury.
The wildcard committee for Wimbledon will announce their decisions next week, but organizers at SW19 are certainly aware of the excitement surrounding Williams’s return to the sport.
Sally Bolton, chief of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, remarked on the potential for Williams to receive a wildcard, saying.
“I can’t answer that question, but I guess what I can say is we can all see how much excitement Serena being back on a tennis court and particularly on a grass court has created and so one can only imagine what that would be like at the championships. “The wildcard committee will formally make their decisions next week and we’ll be communicating those, but she has certainly created a fantastic buzz and that’s exciting for the sport.”
Bolton added, “The wildcard committee will formally make their decisions next week and we’ll be communicating those, but she has certainly created a fantastic buzz and that’s exciting for the sport.”
