Serena Williams’ comeback will resume at next week’s Vanda Pharmaceuticals Berlin Tennis Open, where the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is partnering with World No. 10 Karolina Muchova in the doubles draw.
Williams and Muchova will play Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe in the first round. It will be the second time that Williams has played Routliffe in as many weeks, after Williams and Victoria Mboko beat Routliffe and Nichole Melichar-Martinez at Queen’s Club last week.
If Williams and Muchova win their first two matches in Berlin, they could potentially meet the star-studded American duo of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.
The doubles tournament will begin on Monday, June 15. Click here to see the full draw.
Williams made her highly-anticipated return to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz last week at the HSBC Championships in London, and it didn’t take long for her to offer an encouraging glimpse of where her game stands.
After four years away from the tour, she stepped onto the grass next to Mboko, traded laughs between points and knocked off a top-tier doubles team like she’d never left. Unfortunately Mboko injured her knee during her singles match the following day, forcing their withdrawal from the tournament.
Now that the dust has settled on a bittersweet, injury-shortened week at Queen’s Club, here is what we actually learned about where her game stands ahead of her second tournament in Berlin.
She’s here to have fun
It was evident from the moment that Williams stepped on court with Mboko. Smiles came easily, laughter was constant and the joy of competing together was unmistakable — the kind of energy you’d expect from a legend with nothing left to prove and a genuine love of the game.
“It was so fun,” the 44-year-old said at the start of her on-court interview. “I had so much fun playing with Vickie.”
Mboko, whp is 25 years Williams’ junior, echoed that sentiment in their post-match press conference.
“I just had so much fun today,” she said. “I feel like we complemented each other on the court very well. I just really liked our attitude on court. We had the same mentality. That’s what I always look for in a partner. I just was enjoying myself.”
Williams, smiling throughout her on-court interview, admitted she had grown restless away from competition on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.
“I had nothing better do,” she said, to laughter from the crowd, when asked why she decided to come back. “I got tired of sitting at home. My kids are out of school for the summer, so why not?”
Williams embraced her two girls, Alexia Olympia and Adira, and husband Alexis Ohanian after the win.
She’s in form
After nearly four years away from tour-level competition, a few signs of rust were inevitable. An early volley sailed long, but Williams settled in quickly. On the very next point, she put away an overhead emphatically and began to find her rhythm.
The most encouraging signs came in the final game, when Williams produced a vintage service hold. Back-to-back aces brought up match point, and she sealed the victory with a 113 mph serve down the T that went untouched.
After the match, when asked to grade her performance, Williams gave herself a C-minus. And as she did all day, she proceeded to talk less about herself and more about Mboko, whom she repeatedly praised.
“She really was able to hold up the team and really play big on the big points,” Williams said, “and I could really rely on her.”
Her fitness level is on point
If there was any question about Williams’ fitness level and athleticism after so much time away from the game, she helped answer it on Tuesday. She looked strong, healthy and fully engaged in the straight-sets win.
In the lead-up to the comeback, Williams resumed her working relationship with trainer Derick Pierson, who Williams said is “very intense.”
From her vantage point, Mboko was certainly impressed.
“I thought she was moving great,” Mboko said. “There was that one shot you hit. You were on the run, on the back, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, she’s got it.'”
This backhand winner is the spectacular shot Mboko is referring to:
The buzz she brings to tournaments is still unmatched
It was hard to miss the anticipation around Queen’s Club on the day of Williams’ return.
Fans wore “Greatest Female Athlete” and “Are you looking at my title?” shirts, they constantly bugged ushers with questions about where and when Williams was playing, and she was the topic of what seemed like every conversation. There was even some star power on hand, with Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn there to support her friend.
And the attention wasn’t limited to the fans. In the players’ lounge, heads turned when Williams’ name was announced, as players who grew up watching the seven-time Wimbledon champion tried to catch a glimpse of her.
“Oh my gosh,” Alexandra Eala said mid-interview. “Sorry, this is just so crazy to hear her name.”
Fans came from overseas and other countries to witness the historic moment, including Julian Laborde from New Orleans and Scott Graham from Glasgow.
“The representation she’s brought to the sport, I think that’s really what drew me,” Laborde told wtatennis.com’s Alex Macpherson. “Seeing another Black person playing tennis where you never would normally see Black people playing … she really inspired me to play, and I’ve loved her ever since.”
Her future plans, at this point, remain unclear
Williams appears to be taking a measured approach to her return, and neither she nor the All England Club have confirmed whether she’ll play Wimbledon later this month. She has had dialogue with the tournament, though.
“It’s just a day at a time,” Williams said in regard to playing the season’s third major. “I still have a little time to decide, and they have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.”
