Serena Williams returns to professional tennis at Queens Club
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Iconic tennis player Serena Williams made her comeback to the sport on Tuesday when she teamed up with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko to take on the third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe at Queen’s Club. This was Serena’s first professional match in nearly 4 years after the American last week announced her return to doubles. She said at a news conference on Sunday that she has yet to decide whether to make a comeback in singles as well. Williams immediately received the loudest ovation of the day at the Andy Murray Arena, even from a crowd that had earlier watched British players Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter secure wins in the singles tournament at the HSBC Championships. It is Williams’ first appearance at Queen’s Club, which is nestled among residential blocks near Hammersmith in west London. The club, which held its first championships in 1881, did not stage a women’s tournament for more than 50 years before the WTA tour returned to the venue in 2025.The men’s tournament, which starts next week, has long been one of the main grass-court warmup events for Wimbledon and counts Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and John McEnroe among its former winners.
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