Serena Williams’s first tournament since coming out of retirement has ended prematurely after her doubles partner, Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the Queen’s Club tournament after injuring her knee when slipping on the grass in her singles match.
Williams made a sensational return to competition at 44 after a four-year absence on Tuesday alongside Mboko as they defeated the third seeds, Nicole Melichar Martinez and Erin Routliffe, 7-6(2), 6-2. The pair were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday afternoon.
Mboko, the third seed at the Queen’s Club, played her opening singles match on Wednesday after receiving a first-round bye. Mboko had earned a break point in set two after losing the first set against the former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova before a bad fall, slipping on the grass after being wrongfooted. She immediately held her left knee and was forced to retire from the match.
The courts at the Queen’s Club are known for being some of the most high-quality grass surfaces on the tour but their slick nature makes them particularly slippery in the first days of the tournament. At past editions of the event men’s players have fallen and injured themselves in similar ways after being wrong-footed on the grass.
Williams will next head to Berlin, where she has received a doubles wildcard, and she is expected to be among the doubles wildcard entries at Wimbledon when they are announced next week. Williams has not ruled out Wimbledon, where she won seven singles titles and six doubles titles alongside her sister, Venus, saying on Tuesday after her victory: “They have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.”
Great Britain’s Dan Evans has announced he is to retire from tennis after this summer’s Wimbledon.
The 36-year-old, who reached a career-high world ranking of 21 during the summer of 2023, will call it a day with two ATP Tour titles to his name. Evans was also part of the British team which won the Davis Cup in 2015.
In a post on his Instagram account, he wrote: “After an incredible journey, I wanted to share some personal news with you all. I will be retiring from professional tennis following this year’s Wimbledon championships.
“This sport has given me everything. The friendships, the experiences, the battles and even the hard days were special in hindsight. I have loved every single minute of being a professional tennis player."
However, the immediate future of one of the best young players on the tour is far more opaque as Mboko navigates the uncertainty of injury.
Wimbledon’s wildcard committee will formally make their decisions next week, but SW19 organisers are certainly aware of the buzz Williams’s return to tennis has already inspired.
Asked if Williams would get a wildcard spot if she wanted to, the All England Lawn Tennis Club chief, Sally Bolton, said: “I can’t answer that question, but I guess what I can say is we can all see how much excitement Serena being back on a tennis court and particularly on a grass court has created and so one can only imagine what that would be like at the championships.
“The wildcard committee will formally make their decisions next week and we’ll be communicating those, but she has certainly created a fantastic buzz and that’s exciting for the sport.”
