Serena Williams’ comeback is now up in the air after she suffered a knee injury at Wimbledon.
Williams lost to Maya Joint in her first round match at Wimbledon, having not played a singles match in nearly four years.
The American was still supposed to play doubles with her older sister Venus, but Serena was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury she suffered in her singles match.
This has only ramped up speculation over what the future has in store for Serena, and now Roddick has given his verdict over whether the 44-year-old will appear on a match court again this year.
Andy Roddick ‘confident’ Serena Williams will play again this year
Roddick reacted to Serena Williams being unable to play doubles with Venus in the latest episode of his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast alongside tennis journalist Jon Wertheim.
In his reflections, Roddick stated that he was confident Serena would play again this year, before admitting he felt sorry for Venus after missing the opportunity to play doubles at back-to-back Grand Slams due to her partners getting injured in singles.
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“Serena hurt her knee, apparently during the first set of her match the other day against Maya Joint and kept playing,” said Roddick.
“Listen she tried to get ready, when she was playing on Tuesday night the doubles is potentially going to be Thursday or Friday. They were thinking she was going to be scheduled Thursday, she bought herself a couple of days, not before 4:30pm, she gave us until 3:45pm on the day of the match before she pulled the ripcord.
“We will see Serena again, I am confident. There are numerous things to look forward to in the summer with her.
“I feel badly for Venus. She was supposed to play doubles at Roland Garros. Every year it is tournament to tournament right now, we don’t know when we are going to see her for the last time. Roland Garros, and we hope Hailey Baptiste is getting ready, but she had a brutal knee injury, she was supposed to play with Venus at Roland Garros.
“Comes here and there’s every chance, and this is pure speculation don’t take this as, I have no inside information, there’s every chance that if Serena doesn’t play singles, Venus is next in line for that wildcard.
“Maybe no singles send off, plays a mixed doubles match with Kevin Krawietz and doesn’t get to play doubles with her sister in a big kind of event that had been hyped for a little bit. So we will see Serena again, but this is kind of a bummer for Venus. I know Serena is the buzzy headline, but Venus has won this tournament five times in singles, a million times in doubles. She is a Wimbledon icon, like one of the Billie Jean’s, and the Martina’s and the Fed’s, like she is there. So I don’t know, anything else on Serena?”
This is where Wertheim joined the conversation, as he hinted at the rumours of Serena playing mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.
Wertheim said, “No, I know there are plans for her to, I think people in New York, I think the USTA is very much anticipating her playing something. Whether it’s mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz or doubles or all three.”
What do you think Serena Williams needs to do to make her comeback successful?
What is next for Venus Williams?
Although Serena Williams’ future plans are currently up in the air, Venus has already confirmed two of her upcoming tournaments.
Venus did not play singles at Wimbledon this year, but she is already confirmed to have received a wildcard for both the Washington Open and the Canadian Open.
The 46-year-old is a former finalist at the Canadian Open, but Venus has not won a singles match at the tournament since 2018.
Venus has not won any singles matches in 2026, having lost all eight matches she has played this year, with her last victory coming nearly a year ago at the Washington Open.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion will be hoping to recreate this winning feeling when she returns to the U.S. capital for the Washington Open, which begins on Monday, July 27.
