What an unfortunate end to Serena Williams‘ first tournament back after nearly four years away from competitive tennis: her doubles partner, Victoria Mboko, has been forced to withdraw from the HSBC Championships due to a left knee injury.
Seeking to regain her competitive footing, Williams opted to start with doubles only and partnered for the first time with Mboko, who is 25 years her junior. The pair got off to a promising start, defeating Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe, but their campaign at Queen’s was cut short by misfortune.
Playing singles the day after her doubles win, Mboko suffered a bad fall and was forced to retire from the match. Trailing 6-2 3-4 against Karolina Pliskova, the Canadian teenager cried out in pain as she went down clutching her knee, then limped off the court in tears.
It was uncertain for some time whether she would have to withdraw from doubles, but her withdrawal was confirmed ahead of Thursday’s scheduled quarterfinal against Laura Siegemund and Leylah Fernandez.
It was such an unfortunate fate for Mboko, who missed the honor of continuing her dream partnership with the legendary Williams, while the American saw her campaign ended through no fault of her own.
True to her class as a champion, Williams shared words of encouragement for Mboko on Instagram, writing: “You’re an incredible talent, and you’ll be back out there in no time. Wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Despite the abrupt end to her campaign at Queen’s, Williams is motivated to continue her comeback. What’s certain is that she’ll play next week’s Berlin Tennis Open in Germany, teamed up with Czech Karolina Muchova in doubles.
