Serena Williams Marks Winning Return At Queen’s Club After Four-Year Absence

Serena Williams made a winning return to competitive tennis on Tuesday, delighting fans at Queen’s Club as she teamed up with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko to secure a straight-sets victory in the doubles event.

Four years after stepping away from the sport, the American great and Mboko defeated third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the opening round of the grass-court tournament in London.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, sent shockwaves through the tennis world last week when she announced she would return to competition at Queen’s Club. The 44-year-old showed flashes of the form that made her one of the most dominant players in tennis history, firing powerful serves and groundstrokes in front of a packed crowd.

Despite the convincing victory, Williams admitted she felt nervous before stepping onto the court.

“I got nervous like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go,” she said.

“I didn’t really think about being nervous, I thought about having fun, which I did.

“It was so fun. I had a great time playing with Victoria.

“I never got to play here before, it was always just the men. It feels really special to play somewhere so iconic.”

Questions had surrounded Williams’ decision to return to professional tennis after her last competitive appearance ended in defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open. However, the former world number one looked comfortable throughout much of the game.

Even so, she was far from fully satisfied with her display.

“Oh my god! What do you think? A C minus?,” she said when asked to rate her performance.

“All the elements, considering coming back on grass is probably not the easiest surface. On the grass, four years… Overall I think it was decent.”

Williams had previously revealed that part of her motivation for returning was the chance to play in front of her children. Her daughters, Olympia and Adira, along with husband Alexis Ohanian, watched from courtside as she celebrated her first victory since the 2022 US Open.

Yet the result did little to alter her children’s priorities.

“Adira wanted to go to the toy store, and Olympia wanted to know what was for dinner,” she said.

Williams and Mboko will next face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals. The American is also due to compete in doubles at the Berlin Open next week.

Speculation continues to grow over whether the seven-time Wimbledon singles champion could extend her comeback to the All England Club later this month. Williams, however, remains non-committal.

“Yeah, like I said the other day, it’s just a day at a time,” she said.

“I still have a little time to decide, and they (Wimbledon officials) have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.”