By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Photo credit: Adam Davy/PA Sport/Getty
Serving for the match, Serena Williams reached back for crackling closure.
Slashing successive aces, former world No. 1 Williams brought conviction to her Queen’s Club comeback today.
Shaking off the rust of three-and-a-half years of inactivity, the 44-year-old superstar slammed serves as fast as 120 miles an hour, sprang around the iconic lawn on fresh legs, drilled drive volleys and closed in classic Serena fashion.
In her first pro match in three years and nine months, the icon was inspired.
Williams and 19-year-old partner Victoria Mboko defeated third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 in their Queen’s Club opening match.
Three years, nine months and six days after her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in her last pro match at the 2022 US Open, Serena returned before a completely packed Andy Murray Arena and, perhaps surprisingly, looked a lot like the Serena Williams we all recall.
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Shaking off the rust relatively quickly, Serena showed virtually the entire shot spectrum.
Afterward, a laughing Serena looked happy to be back, though she was self-critical of her return game in the on-court interview with Tennis Channel’s Christopher Eubanks.
“Well, we had a lot of fun,” Williams said with a laugh. “But there’s room for improvement.”
A lively and enthusiastic Queen’s Club crowd created an electric atmosphere that felt more like a singles final Sunday than an opening doubles Tuesday.
Clad in a sleeveless white Nike top, pink skirt, pink Nikes and matching pink grip on her black Wilson Blade, Williams was the only player on the court not wearing a visor to combat London’s late afternoon sun.
“There were so many times in the match where we were kind of like: This could be so much better, we could be doing some more,” Mboko said. “It was a little funny, it added a little humor to it, it kind of made me more relaxed.
“At the end of the day, we just went for it. Both of our game styles, I feel, complement each really well and that really helped us get through today.”
Serena Williams looked more relaxed on court than during her peak period of singles, but was still ripping the ball with vigor.
“I think Vicky’s doing great—I think I need to make some returns next match, which I will,” Williams said. “I didn’t miss one in practice, but ooh, yeah, that was a little embarrassing out there.
“The good news is: I can do better. We both can do better.”
A few immediate observations:
*Watching Serena throw down a vintage 120 mph bullet serving at 5-all, 30-all in the first set—then slash successive aces serving out the match—was a reminder of how the vintage Serena serve, at its best, outshone all competitors like a lightning bolt compared to lightning bugs.
*After a three-and-a-half year layoff, you’d expect Williams’ reaction time and skill reading the play to be dulled if not diminished. Surprisingly, Williams, who netted her first volley, showed some sharp reactions, often anticipated directions of drives and quickly and clearly communicated with the speedy Mboko, one of the fastest women in the game.
*Many of Williams’ miscues were due to faulty footwork. For instance she failed to really move her feet when she bungled an easy smash from nearly on top of the net with Mboko serving at 7-6, 3-2. She sometimes didn’t bend her knees on low backhands that found the top of the tape—all correctable mistakes.
*Here’s a tennis truth: whether Williams is 44, 64 or 84 years old, if you’re going to leave a ball hanging high when Serena is stalking the net, better wear a catcher’s mask for protection. The Serena swing volley rattled Routliffe’s rib cage at one point and nailed Melichar-Martinez in the hand with another drive volley. Thankfully, no head-hunting…yet.
*Top Draw. Think about it: This was a doubles match on a Tuesday afternoon and the Andy Murray court was packed with fans crammed on the Club’s balcony and into every conceivable space. That created an electric buzz that built to an eruptive crescendo when Mboko and Williams made that traditional walk down the steps, through the crowd onto the historic grass that has hosted the game’s greatest champions from J. Donald Budge to Pancho Gonzalez to Rod Laver to John McEnroe to Boris Becker to Pete Sampras to Novak Djokovic to Murray himself. Every time Serena Williams steps on court it’s a major event for tennis—and a moment where the rest of the sports world turns its eyes to the tennis court.
Both Mboko and Williams and Melichar-Martinez and Routliffe were playing doubles as a team for the first time in their careers.
Serena Williams returned from the deuce court as she did in her doubles days of dominance partnering older sister Venus Williams, with whom she won three Olympic doubles gold medals.
A 14-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Williams’ first touch came at the net. She crouched for a low forehand volley but popped it into net, eliciting an empathetic groan from some fans.
In classic Williams retaliation, she blasted a backhand swing volley then snapped off a smash helping Mboko hold to open.
The Montreal champion crashed a backhand down the line. That point-ending strike had repercussions as a spooked Routliffe double-faulted away the break for 2-0.
On her first service point, Williams pulled off a second-serve, serve-and-volley scooping up a slick forehand half volley that pleased co-coach Rennae Stubbs and surely would have elicited a supportive smile from grass-court artist Evonne Goolagong.
Williams whipped a 113 mph serve winner down the T for 40-30 and Mboko spiked a miss-hit smash for a 3-0 lead in an ideal start.
Three years of inactivity-induced rust was evident as Williams hit her first double fault to hand back the break in the seventh game.
As ambassador for the weight-loss drug Ro, Williams says she’s lost 35 pounds.
Today, the 44-year-old superstar showed her familiar explosive fast first step—and fast hands, which can be tough to summon after three years away from elite play.
Reading the angle on a smash, Williams dashed left and spun a backhand pass capping an Mboko hold for 5-4 and eliciting an appreciative roar from crowd, which included Olympic skier and occasional Roger Federer doubles partner Lindsey Vonn, wearing a white Red Bull baseball cap.
Amping up the adrenaline on first serve, Williams stared down 30-all throwing down a 120 mph rocket and holding at 30 for 6-5 when Mboko made a stab volley forcing a wild response.
In the first-set tiebreaker, a Routliffe double fault gave Mboko-Williams the mini break and a 3-0 lead. Williams whipped the wide slice serve extending to 4-0 before netting a forehand pass. Double faults proved costly for the third seeds: Melichar-Martinez double-faulted to cede the mini-break and a 5-2 lead before Williams hammered another swing volley to give Mboko four set points. The Canadian needed just one closing the set on a first serve after 54 minutes.
Williams whipped a backhand swing volley off Melichar-Martinez’s racquet hand to carve out the break in the third game of the second set.
Tested at 30-all again, Williams slammed a 118 mph serve down the T then set up Mboko’s point-ending backhand that split the defense, holding at for for 3-1.
Serving for the match, Williams slashed success aces and a serve winner closing in classic Serena fashion.
Yes, it’s only a doubles match, Williams was only covering half of the court today while benefitting from the 19-year-old Canadian’s speed and shotmaking, and, as she said herself, her backhand return was not up to her high standards.
Still, remember: She’s a 44-year-old mother of two who had not played professionally in more than three-and-a-half years. To see Williams shine on this stage—and look exciting and engaged in the process—makes you wonder what is Williams’ end game in this comeback? Does she even know one match into a comeback?
Obviously, you would expect her to play singles again. On a bigger picture, is Serena also playing to potentially partner sister Venus in a US Open doubles send off? Or is Serena, who has called her four Olympic gold medals among her most treasured titles, really be shooting to play the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and wrap a bow around her glorious career a few miles from where she started it on the cracked public park courts of Compton, California.
Imagine Serena partnering Ben Shelton in a mixed doubles or teaming with Coco Gauff in Olympic doubles?
Serena Williams knows all about spectacular entrances. Remember a 17-year-old Serena clad in a canary-colored Puma dress blew away the field defeating five Grand Slam champions en route to her maiden major at the 1999 US Open.
Now, 27 years after her maiden major triumph, a 44-year-old Serena sat side-by-side with a 19-year-old Mboko with her toes tap-dancing on the lawn as they talked tactics on changeovers.
Even when sitting down, Serena looked like a woman going places and maybe the destination is bigger than most dare to dream or maybe it’s a brief return to the stage but either way will be a lot of fun to see it all unfold.
Afterward, Serena celebrated high-fiving Mboko and hugging her family, husband Alexis Ohanian and their two daughters. Tennis is again a family affair for Serena.