Serena Williams announces stunning return to tennis with Queen’s Club doubles update originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

If a sports fan has heard of the sport of tennis, they have almost certainly heard of Serena Williams. If they haven’t, well, they will learn all about her after she announced her return at the upcoming HSBC Championships.

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Williams is set to play with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, who is currently the No. 9-ranked singles player in the WTA, per the organization.

Williams released a trailer of a phone buzzing and ringing on the side of a tennis court on Monday, which was eventually revealed to be her announcing her return to the court while playing doubles.

While it currently remains unclear if her career will continue after June’s competition, Wimbledon sits imminently on the horizon. Fans have been yearning for one of the sport’s all-time greats to return to the court, and now they will have another chance to see her play on a grass court.

Here’s the latest on the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion’s return to the court.

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Serena Williams announces return to tennis

On Monday morning, one of tennis’ most storied careers will continue. Williams announced her return to the court at next week’s HSBC Championships, which is played on the grass courts at the Queen’s Club in West Kensington, London. The tournament will run from June 8 to June 14.

Queen’s Club serves as a warm-up for Wimbledon, also played on a grass court in England. Williams will be playing doubles during the HSBC Championships, the tournament’s social media page announced.

Here is the promotion Williams posted for her return to tennis at the upcoming HSBC Championships, titled “Guess everybody heard the good news.”

Williams is currently slated to team up with Victoria Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian player, at the HSBC Championships. However, it is currently unclear whether she is planning on continuing her tennis career after this event.

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The 44-year-old became eligible to return to competition on Feb. 22, after completing her six-month period on tennis’ anti-doping testing pool, according to The Athletic. While many tennis fans had already spoiled what they thought was a surprise, Williams promptly shut down those rumors in December.

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Last time Serena Williams played tennis

Williams last walked off the court four years ago at the 2022 U.S. Open, according to her WTA page. Her last match came against Australian Alja Tomljanovic during the tournament’s Round of 32.

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During that match, Williams lost 5-7, 7-6, and 6-1, with Tomljanovic ranked No. 46 for that tournament.

Williams has not played on a grass court since the 2022 Wimbledon, where she fell victim to a first-round exit to No. 115 Harmony Tan. During that match, Williams fell 5-7, 6-1, and 6-7.

Here are Williams’ highlights from her latest appearance on the court:

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Serena Williams doubles history

Since turning professional in 1995, Williams has accumulated a career doubles record of 192-35 (125-16 in Grand Slam play), according to the WTA.

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Williams had normally shared the court with her sister, Venus, during doubles play throughout her career. The two sisters had accumulated 22 doubles titles won together, including 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals to pair with five other WTA Tour events.

In 2010, after the sisters’ doubles win in Madrid, Serena reached her doubles-ranking peak with the No. 1 spot in the WTA. In the final, the Williams duo won in two sets over Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta 6-2 and 7-5, according to Flashscore.

The two sisters won three medals in the doubles event at the Olympics. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the sisters were victorious over the Netherlands’ Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans, 6-1 and 6-1. While Serena could not compete at the 2004 Olympics in Athens due to a knee injury, she made her return in 2008 at the Beijing event.

The two sisters repeated as champions that year, winning the gold medal match 6–2 and 6–0 over Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. Four years later, the duo won their final gold medal together in 2012 in London over Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, earning a gold medal around their necks after back-to-back 6-4 and 6-4 sets.

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