Serena Williams will make her much-anticipated return to tennis this week, playing doubles alongside the supremely talented Victoria Mboko.
Realistically, there are few players on the planet who would have declined the invitation to pair up with such a legendary figure.
That being said, there was one Grand Slam champion who did reject Serena’s offer due to scheduling issues.
Her loss has been Victoria Mboko’s gain though, and tomorrow will see them partner up in Serena Williams’ first competitive tennis match in nearly four years.
Serena Williams claims Victoria Mboko reminds her of herself
Speaking at the Queen’s Club Championship press conference, the legendary 44-year-old was asked exactly how her union with the Canadian teenager came about, and what she saw in Mboko to entice her.
Williams admitted: “Yeah, I saw her play in, was it Montreal?
Do you think women’s tennis has got better or worse since Serena Williams retired in 2022?
“So I remember seeing her playing, and that’s the one she won. Yeah. I was quite impressed with her game; I was impressed with her attitude.
“What I liked the most about her was that the next time she played, she still kept winning. And so I was like, okay, that’s… I love that. You know, it reminded me a lot of myself.
“Sometimes you win one and then you have a little bit of a low, which is normal, and that’s okay as well, but I loved how she was just like, she had this drive, and so, I’ve seen her play doubles a little bit here and there, and you know, it was kind of hard to, like, you know, because it was such a decision and it wasn’t the last minute decision, but it was a last minute commitment.
“And so I was like, okay, who am I gonna play with now? Because I decided a while ago, but I couldn’t actually commit to it until it was pretty 11th hour.”
To have this 23-time major champion compare you to her is the ultimate compliment, and Mboko has expressed her excitement ahead of playing with Serena already on social media.
When was Serena Williams’ last competitive tennis match?
As briefly touched upon earlier, it was nearly four years since Serena last took to the tennis court to compete professionally.
That came at the 2022 US Open, where she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round.
Who would you like to see Serena Williams play doubles with if she returns?
The American has already insisted that, currently, she has no plans to play singles, meaning the wait to see her feature in this format will go on.
However, when the time comes for her to play at Queen’s with Mboko tomorrow, it will have been 3 years, 9 months and 4 days since she last played a tour-level match of any kind.
