Who will Serena Williams play in her first tournament back?
· Yahoo Sports
Let the comeback begin.
Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko now know who they'll play at the HSBC Championships, also known as Queen's Club, after the June 6 doubles draw for Williams' return to tennis. The tournament will be Williams' first since the U.S. Open in 2022.
Visit rouesnews.click for more information.
Williams and Mboko will begin the tournament on either Monday, June 8 or on Tuesday, June 9 with times still to be determined. They are facing Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe.
Queen's is a grass tournament, and Williams said that was a factor in making her return there. Of her 23 Grand Slam titles, seven came at Wimbledon.
"Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages,” Williams said.
Though Williams has not yet said if she'll play Wimbledon, also on grass, Queen's is a tune-up for that major.
View this post on Instagram
When are the HSBC Championships?
The HSBC Championships are June 8-21.
The women's tournament is first, beginning June 8, with singles and doubles. The finals are June 14, and the men's tournament begins the following day.
Where are the HSBC Championships?
The HSBC Championships are played at The Queen's Club in London.
Who is Serena Williams playing with?
Serena Williams is playing doubles at Queen's with Victoria Mboko. The 19-year-old from Canada is currently ranked No. 9 in the world in singles.
"Me and Serena have stayed in touch, which is really, really nice, because you know, I really look up to her. I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very, it's very exciting," Mboko said, laughing, at the French Open.
Mboko has won two WTA titles in her career. She most recently played at the French Open, where she lost in the third round to American Madison Keys.
Serena Williams' doubles history
Though best known for her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Serena Williams is also an exceptional doubles player.
She and older sister Venus won 14 Grand Slam titles, and never lost a final at a major. They also won three Olympic gold medals in doubles, making Serena Williams the only player in tennis history to win the Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. (The Golden Slam is winning Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens, as well as the Olympic gold medal.)
When is the last time Serena Williams played?
Serena Williams hasn't played since the U.S. Open in 2022.
Williams said at the time that she and husband Alexis Ohanian wanted more children; their second daughter, Adira, was born in August 2023. Williams later said she'd also been plagued by joint pain after having her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
Now 44, Williams lost 31 pounds after going on a GLP-1 drug, and credited the medication with finally helping relieve the joint pain. She indicated last fall she was at least considering a comeback by rejoining the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s drug-testing pool, a requirement to play again. Williams was reinstated Feb. 22.
Rumors of her return gained new steam in March, when Alycia Parks posted video of her practicing with Williams. Parks then told the Tennis Channel that they were hitting together about three times a week.
“She's hitting good," Parks told the Tennis Channel in a March 19 interview. “She's definitely fit. She looks great and she's hitting the ball amazing.”
Now the whole world will get to see for themselves.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Serena Williams learns who she'll play in her tennis return