Serena Williams is back on court this week at Queen's Club, competing in doubles for the first time since stepping away from professional tennis in 2022. The 44-year-old will pair with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko in what marks her official competitive return after nearly three years away from the sport.
Williams has committed to playing doubles in Berlin following Queen's, but her plans beyond that remain fluid. When pressed on a potential singles comeback, she offered no firm commitment. "I can't say yeah, I can't say no. Right now, no," she said, leaving the door open to future decisions once Wimbledon wildcard meetings begin.
The tennis icon framed her return as fundamentally different from her dominant career. "I don't need to win," Williams explained. "I've won more than most people have in their whole lives, so for me it's not important to me." With 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, she stressed that the pressure to prove herself has vanished entirely.
"I don't have anything to prove, I don't have anything to lose and everything here is just a gain," she said. "This whole journey is like I'm putting no pressure on myself. It's really about my kids getting to see me play."
Williams gave birth to daughters Olympia, now eight, and Adira, who is two. The opportunity to compete at an elite level while her family watches holds particular meaning. "An athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to possibly do that one last time is kind of cool and exciting," she noted.
The choice of Mboko as her doubles partner was intentional. Williams said the 19-year-old world No. 9 in singles "reminded me a lot of myself." She observed Mboko's play in Montreal, where the Canadian won the 2025 Canadian Open. "I was impressed with her attitude, and what I liked the most about her was that the next time she played she still kept winning," Williams said, praising the teenager's consistency and drive.
For Mboko, the partnership carries profound weight. She was only 10 years old when Williams won her final Grand Slam. "Growing up, Serena has always been my idol," Mboko said. "It was really hard not to like her because she won every tournament she played."
Meeting her idol in person proved transformative for the young star. "Seeing someone on TV versus actually talking to them in person and having conversations, of course, it's very different," Mboko reflected. "I think she's really nice and she's very personable, very relatable. And I think she's really funny. So I've found a lot of comfort with her."
The pair will face third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in their first-round match, expected to occur Tuesday or Wednesday. Their doubles debut follows a practice session on Sunday morning.
Williams acknowledged that if singles competition beckons, more training lies ahead. "I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles," she said. "And if not, that's not my journey right now. It's summer, the kids aren't in school, so it's a perfect time to get out there, have fun and see what happens."
The timing aligns with a grass court season, traditionally one of Williams' strongest surfaces throughout her career. Yet she remains unburdened by expectations, viewing the entire endeavor as an extension of motherhood and personal joy rather than a comeback narrative.
Emma Raducanu, who defeated Williams in their last encounter at the 2022 Cincinnati Open, expressed enthusiasm about seeing the legend back on tour. "It was announced that she was stopping," Raducanu recalled of that match. "It's really great to see her back. I think it's an amazing inspiration and for all of us to see her around is a really cool thing. She's the greatest female tennis player of all time."
Author James Rodriguez: "Williams returning at 44 without ego or desperation is refreshing, but the real test comes if she actually tests singles again."
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