Serena Williams campaign at the Berlin Open has come to an end.
The American tennis legend, who made her return to the sport earlier this month at the Queen’s Club Championships, partnered Czech star Karolina Muchova in the German capital.
Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos defeated Serena and Karolina on Tuesday evening, triumphing 6-4, 6-4 in the Steffi Graf Stadium.
What do you think Serena Williams needs to do to make her comeback successful?
Serena has now competed in doubles alongside two exceptional singles talents: Victoria Mboko and Karolina Muchova.
The American is also set to make a blockbuster return to Wimbledon later this month, playing alongside her sister – Venus Williams – in the women’s doubles event.
One notable individual Serena is yet to compete alongside is Coco Gauff.
Serena discussed the prospect of suiting up alongside Gauff while speaking to the media in the German capital.
Serena Williams would ‘love’ to play doubles with Coco Gauff
“I would really love to play with Coco,” Serena told reporters in Berlin following Tuesday’s defeat.
“To be honest, she was on my list of people I would love to play with. I should have done better research on who was on the charts.
“But Karolina is such a great player, she’s such a beautiful player and she’s someone that I love to watch.
“I love watching Coco as well.
“She’s so focused on singles nowadays, you never really know if people are playing doubles.
“I guess I should have asked though – I didn’t know.”
Gauff, who recently expressed her thoughts on potentially playing doubles with Serena. is not competing in the Berlin doubles event and has instead chosen to fully focus on her singles campaign.
The American youngster, who is competing against the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina for the title, advanced through to the round of 16 on Tuesday following the withdrawal of Nikola Bartunkova.
As a result, Gauff will play former world number two Paula Badosa for a place in the quarter-finals.
Their match is set to take place later on Wednesday, and the winner will face either Linda Noskova or Diana Parry.
Is Coco Gauff the third-best player on the WTA Tour? 🤔
If not, who is?
Serena Williams should not feel disheartened after her loss in Berlin
Serena has already proven her worth since returning to the WTA Tour.
Just last week, the American and Victoria Mboko performed superbly to defeat the third seeds at the Queen’s Club Championships.
Had Victoria Mboko’s fitness remained intact, who knows what the pair could have achieved in West London.
Moreover, Wednesday’s result in Berlin was far from a comfortable victory for Routliffe and Olmos.
Serena Williams’ results since returning to tennis
- Queen’s: Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko defeated Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 7-6, 6-2
- The pair were then forced to withdraw from the event after Mboko suffered an injury during her singles campaign
- Berlin: Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos defeated Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-4
The pair were made to work extremely hard by Serena and Karolina; and on another day, we could have witnessed a very different result.
Serena will now set her sights on the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles event, which will begin later this month.
Serena is set to play alongside Venus after the pair received wildcards for the event.
Serena and Venus are the joint-most successful pairing in tournament history, winning six women’s doubles titles in London.
