Serena Williams Withdraws from Quarterfinals After 4-Year Return Due to Partner's Injury

The comeback tournament for "Tennis Queen" Serena Williams (44, USA), who returned to the court after four years, has ended after just one match due to an injury sustained by her doubles partner, Victoria Mboko (Canada).

The pair of Williams and Mboko withdrew from their Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour HSBC Championship (total prize money of $1.915 million) doubles quarterfinal match, which was scheduled to take place at the Queen's Club in London, UK, on June 11 (local time).

Williams and Mboko were set to face Leylah Fernandez (Canada) and Laura Siegemund (Germany).

However, Mboko injured her left knee while playing against Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) in the round of 16 of the women's singles tournament the previous day, making her unable to compete in the doubles match and bringing an early end to Williams' tournament run.

Williams had returned to official competition after 1,376 days, having been away from the court since the 2022 US Open on June 9.

Two days ago, she teamed up with Mboko to defeat the pair of Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Erin Routliffe (New Zealand) 2-0 (7-6<7-2> 6-2) in 1 hour and 32 minutes during their first-round doubles match.

Williams is scheduled to compete in the doubles event at the WTA Tour Berlin Open, which begins on June 15.

However, her participation in Wimbledon, which opens on June 29, has not yet been determined.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.