Serena Williams celebrates successful doubles comeback in London

Queen's Club in London is considered an important dress rehearsal for the Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon, which begins at the end of June. After the match, Williams emphasized the significance of grass for her career. "Auf Rasen habe ich einige der bedeutendsten Momente meiner Karriere erlebt, und ich freue mich darauf, wieder auf einer der ikonischsten Bühnen des Sports anzutreten," she said. "Der Queen's Club fühlt sich wie der perfekte Ort an, um dieses nächste Kapitel zu beginnen".

Williams has particularly special memories associated with Wimbledon: on the Church Road grounds, where the tournament is traditionally held, she has won the singles title seven times to date. Overall, her record includes 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 73 titles on the WTA Tour. She spent 319 weeks at the top of the world rankings.

A voice from the team

Alongside the much younger Mboko, Williams showed that she remains competitive even four years after her last official match. "Es hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht, mit der 25 Jahre jüngeren Mboko anzutreten," Williams said. "Es hat sich so natürlich angefühlt, mit Vicky zu spielen." Mboko herself spoke of a special experience: "Es ist ein Privileg. Wir wollen aber mehr als nur diesen Sieg."

For Williams, the return to the tennis court was also a personal decision. She had a second child last year, roughly a year after her official retirement following the 2022 US Open. About her motivation for the comeback, she joked: "Ich hatte nicht Besseres zu tun. Ich war es leid, zu Hause rumzusitzen." In a second version, she added: "Ich hatte nichts Besseres zu tun, daher bin ich auf die Tour zurückgekehrt."

Looking ahead to Wimbledon and Berlin

Mboko, who was born in Canada and is regarded as a major talent from her country, also expressed enthusiasm about their shared match. The 19-year-old said she felt honored to be playing alongside Williams. The duo was visibly in sync on the grass and impressed against the favored opponents especially in the first set, which they decided in a tiebreak.

As early as next week, Williams plans to take to the court at the WTA tournament in Berlin, which also serves as preparation for Wimbledon. Her doubles partner for Berlin has yet to be determined. If she maintains her form, she could also play singles at the grass-court highlight in Wimbledon – as one of the most experienced players in the draw.

Background and history

In addition to Williams' doubles comeback, there were other noteworthy results at Queen's Club: a planned match featuring Anastasia Potapova at the WTA 250 tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, was postponed to Wednesday due to rain. Potapova's opponent would have been the Dutch player Suzan Lamens.

Williams' sister Venus, according to sources close to the family, remains sporadically active on the professional tour. The sisters have shaped women's tennis for over two decades and are together considered one of the most successful dynasties in sports history.

Although Australia's Margaret Court holds one more Grand Slam title, Williams is regarded by many observers as the greatest tennis player of all time. Her comeback in London evokes memories of past Wimbledon triumphs and gives the tournament additional media attention.