Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko defeated Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, 7-6, 6-2, in the first round of the 2026 Queen’s Club Championships.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion made a winning return to tennis alongside Mboko at Queen’s.
How impressed were you with Serena Williams’ level?
A legendary return!
Unfortunately, Mboko suffered an injury during her opening singles match, forcing her to withdraw from the doubles event.
Still, Williams impressed many, including Judy Murray, at the Queen’s Club.
Judy Murray says Serena Williams played at an ‘incredibly high level’ at Queen’s
Speaking to Sky Sports, Murray delivered her verdict on Williams’ return.
“I’m not sure that anybody expected her to come back when she retired, I think it was back in 2022,” she said.
“She has her two children now, but she’s been playing a load; she’s obviously got herself into really good shape, fit, ready to compete again.
“I’m guessing she probably missed it a lot, as well.
“I saw a clip where she was saying that it was really important to her that her kids saw her playing, so they knew who she was and what she did.
“I absolutely loved the fact that her husband and her kids were courtside and greeted her when she came off.
“But she showed that she’s still playing at a remarkably high level, playing doubles with Victoria Mboko at the WTA event in Queen’s, and winning her first match!
“And huge crowd support there, and huge fan base behind her, it’s great, another mum coming back into the game successfully, brilliant.”
Fans were on the edge of their seats from the first point to the last as Williams made her much-anticipated tennis return.
Williams showed signs of rust, understandably so, but hit several shots that reminded many why she is arguably the greatest player of all time.
Her serve was particularly impressive, giving fans reasons to be hopeful for a potential singles run.
Especially on grass, if Williams can win the majority of her service games, she stands a good chance of competing.
She could play singles at Wimbledon, although there has been no confirmation of her plans just yet.
Next up for the 44-year-old is a trip to Berlin…
Serena Williams will play doubles with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Open
Williams will team up with Czechia’s Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Open WTA 500 event.
It had been suggested that Williams may play doubles with Coco Gauff, although, at least for now, that’s not on the cards.
Muchova hasn’t played much doubles this year, last competing at the Brisbane International in January, where she reached the quarter-finals with Priscilla Hon.
But she is a strong player in good form, having won her maiden WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Open in February
Fans will be excited to see what Muchova and Williams can achieve in Berlin, as the latter looks to maintain her unbeaten record since returning to tennis.
After Berlin, Williams will have some important decisions to make about Wimbledon.
The chances are that she will play doubles, and her coach, Rennae Stubbs, has even suggested she may consider playing mixed doubles at SW19.
Her singles participation is less of a certainty, though.
Williams lost her first-round singles match at Wimbledon on her last visit to the All England Club, to Harmony Tan.
Will she look for redemption in 2026? Only time will tell.
This year’s Wimbledon Championships begin on Monday, June 29.
