Serena Williams will take part in her first professional tennis match in nearly four years on Tuesday after organisers confirmed the order of play at London’s Queen’s Club. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Granted a wildcard into the women’s doubles of the WTA tournament, Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko will face third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the grass-court event, a warm-up for Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
Williams is one of tennis’ all-time greats with 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her credit.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old American last played at the 2022 US Open when she said she was “evolving away from tennis”.<\/p>\n
Williams’ return is fuelled by a desire for her two young daughters with husband Alexis Ohanian to see her in a competitive environment before she finally hangs up her racquet for good.<\/p>\n
“It’s really about the kids seeing me play,” Williams told reporters at Queen’s on Sunday. “Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. It’s components like that.”<\/p>\n
After competing at Queen’s, Williams will take part in the doubles at the Berlin Open from June 15-21.<\/p>\n
In her first press conference since announcing her return, Williams played down suggestions she would extend her return to singles competition.<\/p>\n
But, with Wimbledon looming later in June, she did not completely rule out the possibility of featuring at a tournament she has won seven times.<\/p>\n
“For singles, I can’t say ‘yeah’ and I can’t say ‘no’,” explained Williams. “Right now, no. I feel like I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles.<\/p>\n
“We will see if I get there and if not, it is not my journey right now.”<\/p>\n
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