Serena Williams may not have had her first offer accepted for her doubles comeback to the WTA Tour.
Williams announced she would be returning at the Queen’s Club Championships, nearly four years after playing her last match at the US Open.
This is where Williams will be playing doubles with Victoria Mboko, the Canadian teenager who was just 16 years old when the 23-time major winner played her last match.
Tennis fans are very excited about Williams playing with Mboko, but it has now been confirmed that she may not have been the first choice.
Katerina Siniakova rejected Serena Williams’ offer to play doubles
This was revealed at Roland Garros this year by Katerina Siniakova, who is an 11-time Grand Slam doubles champion and the current world number one.
Siniakova, who is the doubles partner of Taylor Townsend, could be closing in on winning a 12th major title at Roland Garros and after reaching the semifinals in Paris, she was asked about Williams’ comeback.
Who would you like to see Serena Williams play doubles with if she returns?
The Czech confirmed that she had received a message from Williams to play doubles together at Queen’s, but Siniakova had to reject her offer to rest after Roland Garros, but did not rule out playing together in the future.
“I’m proud that I had the honor of receiving a message from her,” said Siniakova, as reported by Tenisovysvet.
Siniakova continued, “Unfortunately, I won’t be playing the week she returns. I had a really hard time deciding whether to play with such a legend or rest a bit. I think it’s great for tennis that she’s back. We’ll see what form she’s in, but seeing her back is wow.
“It was a bit of a funny story. For me, it’s great just to have the message and her number. If it works out another time, I’ll be very happy. It would be an honor to play with her. I was terribly sorry that it turned out like this, but it couldn’t be combined. Then I’m in the qualifiers in Berlin.”
What happened when Serena Williams played her last doubles match?
It has been nearly four years since Williams played a professional tennis match, when she lost in the third round of the US Open to Ajla Tomljanovic.
This was the same tournament where Serena played her last doubles match, as she took to the court with her older sister Venus.
Serena and Venus won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, but at the 2022 US Open they suffered a first round defeat together at a major tournament for the first time in a completed match since 1997 after losing in straight sets to the Czech pairing of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.
How excited are you to watch Serena Williams play on the WTA Tour once again? 🐐
As she looks to return to winning ways, Serena will make a blockbuster comeback to the WTA Tour alongside Mboko at Queen’s, which starts on Monday, June 8.
It is unclear as to whether the legendary sisters will be playing together anytime soon, as Venus is partnering Alexandra Eala at the Bad Homburg Open ahead of Wimbledon.
