Serena Williams’ Queen’s Club doubles comeback ended Thursday after partner Victoria Mboko withdrew with a knee injury, handing Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund a walkover.
Queen’s Club confirmed the doubles withdrawal on Thursday. Mboko suffered the injury during her singles match against Karolina Pliskova a day earlier.
Williams and Mboko had been due to face Canada’s Fernandez and Germany’s Siegemund in the second round at the HSBC Championships. The walkover sent Fernandez and Siegemund into the semi-finals.
The Guardian reported that Mboko slipped on the grass during the second set against Pliskova. The injury halted Williams’ first tournament appearance since her 2022 US Open exit.
Williams and Mboko had opened the tournament by beating third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2. The WTA listed the pair as a wild-card team in the Queen’s doubles draw.
Read: Serena Williams Comeback Starts With 7-6, 6-2 Win
Williams is next scheduled to compete in doubles at the VANDA Pharmaceuticals Berlin Tennis Open, which runs from June 15 to June 21 at Steffi Graf Stadium in Berlin. The WTA said her partner had not been confirmed.
