Serena Williams will not partner with her sister Venus Williams in the doubles event at Wimbledon, following her withdrawal due to a knee injury sustained during her recent singles match.
After losing her first-round singles match against Maya Joint, Williams had hoped to be fit to face Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra on Saturday afternoon. However, she has not fully recovered from the knee twist that occurred in the opening set, which led to her defeat with scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
In a heartfelt social media statement, Williams expressed, “I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete. “I’m especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to recover. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful … All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you …”
“The photo of the syringes is the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match – yikes! The good news is that my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to be ready for doubles,”
Williams included images on her social media showing her knee treatment, notably featuring four syringes filled with yellow fluid. She commented, “The photo of the syringes is the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match – yikes! The good news is that my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to be ready for doubles.”
This was anticipated to be a significant moment, marking the first time Serena and Venus, aged 44 and 46 respectively, would compete together since the 2022 US Open, and their first Wimbledon appearance as a duo since winning the title in 2016.
Although they have emphasized singles in their careers, the Williams sisters are celebrated as one of the greatest doubles teams in history, having clinched Wimbledon titles six times and a total of 14 Grand Slam titles.
In recent weeks, Serena made her return to competitive tennis four years after announcing her retirement following the 2022 US Open, opting to participate in doubles at the Queen’s Club and Berlin.
Wimbledon had reserved its final singles wildcard for Williams until the last moment, with the 24-time Grand Slam champion opting to make her comeback just a day before the deadline last Monday. Given her age and the long hiatus from the physical demands of top-level singles, it’s evident her body struggled to adapt to the intensity of competition.
Since Williams’ singles loss, uncertainty has loomed large. She confirmed her knee injury a day later and refrained from any training on-site during the five days following her defeat.
The prospect of seeing Serena and Venus compete again has been one of the most eagerly awaited events of the tournament, with organizers pushing their rules to accommodate the sisters.
As of Friday, all women’s doubles first-round matches had concluded except for the anticipated match featuring the Williams sisters.
Uncertainty persisted into Saturday, as the match was not assigned a confirmed time slot, instead listed as TBA starting no earlier than 4:30 PM. The pair has now been replaced in the draw by Britain’s Samantha Murray Sharan and Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee.
Venus was scheduled to practice at Aorangi Park, the All England Club’s training courts, at 2:30 PM, while Serena was set to train at 4:00 PM. Ultimately, Serena’s emotional farewell to the Centre Court crowd after her loss on Monday may mark her final appearance on the grass at the All England Club this year, and perhaps in her career.
