Serena Williams has been forced to pull out of her scheduled Wimbledon doubles match with sister Venus Williams due to an injury sustained during her singles match against Maya Joint. According to The Guardian. Williams twisted her knee in the first set of her opening-round singles match, which she lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, and she shared her disappointment on social media, stating, “I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me.”

Williams’ Medical Update

Williams shared images of her treatment and the yellow fluid drained from her knee after the singles match — she noted, “The photo of the syringes is the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match – yikes! The good news is that my knee shouldn’t swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to be ready for doubles.” According to BBC, this was to be the first time the sisters played together since the 2022 US Open and their first appearance at Wimbledon since winning the title in 2016. They are one of the greatest doubles teams, having won Wimbledon together six times and 14 grand slam titles overall.

Attempted Return and Tournament Adjustments

Williams returned to tennis four years after her official retirement at the 2022 US Open, choosing to compete in doubles at Queen’s Club and then Berlin. According to BBC, her hopes of playing in Saturday’s doubles match appeared to improve when their match was added to the order of play on Friday. However, the match was not allocated a court and was not scheduled to be played before 16:30 BST. This suggested that Williams was being given as long as possible to declare herself fit. Despite this, she announced her decision to pull out just 15 minutes before her scheduled practice session. The tournament organizers confirmed she was “not able to undertake” her duties following the singles match.

Williams’ Wider Wimbledon Plans

According to AOL.com, Serena Williams will still compete in singles at Wimbledon, marking her first singles match at a Grand Slam since 2022. She received a wildcard for the event and will play her first match on the grass court. Williams had previously returned to doubles competition in June at the Queen’s Club with Canadian partner Victoria Mboko. Her last singles appearance at a Grand Slam was at the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanović in three sets. This will be her first singles match since that defeat. She has not ruled out a return to singles, but has been focusing on doubles since her comeback.