Serena Williams’ first tournament since confirming her return to professional tennis has been cut short after an injury to doubles partner Victoria Mboko forced the pair to withdraw from the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club.
The 23-time grand slam singles champion made a winning return on Tuesday as she and teenager Mboko beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.
However, Mboko subsequently suffered a left knee injury in her singles match with Karolina Pliskova, forcing her to retire from that contest in the second set.
Williams and Mboko were due to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund, who will now receive a walkover into the semi-finals.
Serena sets sights on Berlin, with Wimbledon still a question-mark
For Williams, attention turns to next week’s Berlin Open, where she will continue her comeback in the doubles.
The American will play alongside Karolina Muchova, who is ranked 10th in the world in singles.
Williams’ plans beyond the Berlin Open are unknown, and she still has time to decide on featuring at Wimbledon this year.
The first wild cards for Wimbledon are due to be announced on Monday. However, Williams could theoretically wait and make her decision just before the start of qualifying on June 22.
While compatriot Andy Roddick has tipped Williams for a singles comeback, the 44-year-old indicated that is not in her plans at the moment.
Speaking before her opening win at Queen’s, Williams said: “Right now, no. I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles. We’ll see if I get there. And if not . . . that’s not my journey right now.”
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