Serena Williams made her comeback to professional tennis on June 6 or 7, 2026, competing in doubles at the Queen's Club WTA event with 19-year-old Canadian partner Victoria Mboko [1, 2, 3, 4]. The 44-year-old Williams and Mboko opened their campaign by defeating the third-seeded pair Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(7-2), 6-2 in the first round [1, 3, 5, 4]. Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, said she had "nothing to prove" and was motivated by the chance to play in front of her daughters. "I don't have anything to prove, I don't have anything to lose and everything here is just to gain," she said [1, 3].
Williams had previously indicated she was "evolving away" from tennis after the 2022 US Open but did not officially retire from the sport [1, 6, 2, 3]. Asked about future plans, Williams said she was considering whether to play at Wimbledon 2026 but had yet to decide. She said, "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" [4]. Williams also plans to compete in doubles at the Berlin event the following week and may seek a Wimbledon wildcard [1, 7].
The promising start was disrupted on June 7 when Mboko suffered a left knee injury during her singles match against Karolina Pliskova and was forced to retire [8, 9, 10, 11, 7]. Pliskova commented, "It's such a shame. I think we played quite a good game and she was improving as the match was going on. I wish her only the best. It's not the way I want to win so hopefully she is going to be fine for Wimbledon" [8]. Due to Mboko's injury, the Williams-Mboko doubles team withdrew from their Queen's quarter-final match scheduled for June 8 [8, 9, 11, 7].
Williams's return to tennis follows her presumed final professional singles match at the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic. Tomljanovic recalled feeling "very conflicted" after that match against Williams, who she had long admired [6]. Mboko described their Queen's doubles win as a learning opportunity, saying, "It feels like it was far from our level a little bit, but I think it's great knowing that you have so much room for improvement" [4].
Williams and Mboko have withdrawn from Queen's doubles quarter-finals due to Mboko's injury, with Williams scheduling doubles play at Berlin next week as she continues her comeback [11, 7].
