LONDON — Serena Williams made her return to professional tennis on Tuesday with a straight-sets victory over Nicole Melichar Martinez and Erin Routliff in doubles with partner Victoria Mboko at the HSBC Championship.
The 44-year-old Williams, who last played four years ago at the 2022 US Open, reached the quarterfinals alongside Canada’s Mboko, 19. The pair overcame a tough first set and won 7-6, 6-2 in front of a packed crowd.
Williams’ future beyond next week is still uncertain, but she said her immediate focus is having fun and playing in front of her family. Her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and children, Olympia and Adira, watched Tuesday’s game from the stands.
“I don’t know. I didn’t have anything else to do and I was tired of sitting at home. My kids are off from school for the summer, so why not go?” Williams said on the court after the game. “I’ve never had the chance to play here. It’s always been just boys. It feels really special to be able to play in such an iconic place.”
Despite a decorated career and insisting he had “nothing to lose” on Sunday ahead of his long-awaited return, Williams said there was some pre-match nervousness as the moment approached.
“I was nervous, but I wasn’t thinking too much… I was just thinking about having fun, and that’s what I did today,” Williams said. “I get nervous right before a game, about 30 minutes beforehand, but that’s when I try to calm down.”
I certainly didn’t see any tension at all.
Williams and Mboko got off to a strong start and quickly looked like a cohesive team, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set, much to the delight of those in attendance at the Queen’s Club. Fans made no secret of their desire to see the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion safely return to the court and extend her stay in west London, just a few miles from Wimbledon, where she won seven singles titles.
Despite missing 1,375 days, it didn’t take long for Williams to get back into shape. Her competitiveness was on display from the start as she still showed her trademark power, hitting a 190 mph service winner. When he scores a point, he pumps his fist, and when he makes a mistake, he shakes his head and lets out a strange groan.
Williams was the attacker of the pair, but did not play too much as he gradually returned to the professional scene. Still, she finished the match in style, hitting two aces, including the match winner, and snatched the victory.
“I mean, I thought she had some great moves,” Mboko said. “During the game, I think that one shot (Williams) hit and you were running away…and I had a moment where I was like, ‘Oh my god, she got it.’
“(From my perspective) everything was great. It was a lot of fun. It was great.”
Williams and Mboko are scheduled to play again on Thursday, but Williams also confirmed she will compete in the Berlin Tennis Open in Germany next week. Asked if this match brought her any closer to deciding whether she could return to Wimbledon, Williams said she was still taking things “one day at a time.”
