Victoria Mboko's knee injury puts Serena Williams's doubles return in doubt
Victoria Mboko suffered a left knee injury during her first-round singles match at the Queen's Club WTA tournament, leaving Serena Williams’s highly anticipated doubles comeback hanging in the balance just a day after the American legend returned to the court.
Serena's return and the winning start
On Tuesday, Serena Williams returned to professional tennis for the first time since announcing her retirement nearly four years ago. The 44-year-old American chose 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, the world number nine, as her doubles partner at the Queen's Club WTA 500 event. The pair immediately clicked, upsetting third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe to reach the quarter-finals.
- Williams and Mboko defeat third seeds in first round of doubles.
- Mboko sustains knee injury in singles against Pliskova and retires.
- Scheduled doubles quarter-final now in serious doubt.
The injury break
One day later, Mboko stepped onto the same grass court for her first-round singles match against Czech Karolina Pliskova. After dropping the first set 6-2, she was battling back at 4-3 on Pliskova's serve when she slipped on the slick surface while attempting to change direction. She fell awkwardly, doing a near-split, and immediately clutched her left kneecap in pain. Medical staff and the chair umpire rushed to her side, and Pliskova also approached the net to check on her opponent.
Mboko managed to rise and walk back to her chair a few moments later, but she was visibly upset and covered her face with a towel. Within moments, she retired from the match, leaving the court in tears.
Immediate fallout
The 19-year-old's injury immediately placed the Williams-Mboko doubles quarter-final — scheduled for Thursday against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund — in serious jeopardy. No official withdrawal had been announced by Wednesday evening, but the sight of Mboko in acute distress made a continued run highly unlikely.
For Williams, the setback threatens to cut short a long-awaited return that had generated considerable attention. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion had not competed since the 2022 US Open and had only recently begun training with Mboko ahead of the grass-court season.
What they said
Pliskova, who led 6-2, 4-3 at the time of the retirement, expressed sorrow at the manner of her victory.
It's such a shame. I think we played quite a good game and she was improving as the match was going on. I wish her only the best. It's not the way I want to win so hopefully she is going to be fine for Wimbledon.
Looking ahead
Mboko will undergo scans in the coming hours to assess the severity of the injury. Her participation at Wimbledon, which begins later this month, is now in question. Meanwhile, Williams is due to compete in doubles at next week's WTA 500 event in Berlin, though her partner for that tournament has not been publicly confirmed. In her absence, the Queen's draw continued on Wednesday with American second seed Amanda Anisimova powering past Siegemund in singles, 6-1 6-3.
