In her first Tour-level match for 1375 days, Serena Williams showed fans at The Queen’s Club on Tuesday that she still has it.
Williams, a former world No.1 and 23-time Grand Slam champion, has begun her comeback at the HSBC Championships, where she is playing doubles alongside Victoria Mboko. A player who was born eight years after the American won her first Wimbledon title in 1998 in mixed doubles.
Playing in front of a packed stadium, Williams looked to be still in good shape despite having not played since the 2022 US Open. Alongside Mboko, the duo produced a 7-6(2), 6-2 win over third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe.
“It was so fun. I had so much fun playing with Victoria,” 44-year-old Williams said afterwards.
“She was able to hold up the team on the big points and I could lean on her. It felt very natural.”
Williams is already one of the most successful tennis players of all time with numerous records achieved. She has earned more than $94.8M in prize money, the most of any female player in history. She is also the only player – male or female – to complete a ‘Career Golden Slam’ (winning all four majors and Olympic gold) in both singles and doubles.
So why has the mother-of-two decided to return to the Tour?
“I don’t know [what’s to come]. I had nothing better to do! I was sitting at home. I thought, why not?” She explained.
“I never got to play here (at The Queen’s Club), it was always just the men. It feels very special to play somewhere so iconic. It’s very cool.”
Grading her comeback performance as a ‘C-minus,’ Williams says she was able to manage her nerves by focusing on just having fun on court.
As for the month ahead, Williams is keeping coy about a potential return to Wimbledon. At SW19, she has won 14 titles overall across singles (seven), doubles (six) and mixed doubles (one).
“Like I said the other day, it’s just a day at a time. I still have a little time to decide, and they have been great about giving me that space and time to decide,” she said.
Williams and Mboko are scheduled to play their next match on Thursday against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund.
