{"id":261551,"date":"2026-06-10T04:55:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/261551\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:55:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:55:52","slug":"serena-williams-victorious-in-tennis-return-at-queens-club-with-decent-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/261551\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams victorious in tennis return at Queen\u2019s Club with \u2018decent\u2019 performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams made a victorious return to tennis, 1,376 days after her last professional match.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Williams and doubles partner Victoria Mboko defeated third-seeded Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the Queen\u2019s Club championships on Tuesday afternoon. Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez are ranked No. 11 and No. 15 in the world in doubles, respectively.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was so fun. I had so much fun playing with Victoria,\u201d Williams said in an on-court interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve never played together but it just felt so natural playing with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko wave to the crowd following victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during the Women\u2019s Doubles first round match at The Queen\u2019s Club on June 09, 2026 in London, England. Getty Images<\/p>\n

London\u2019s Andy Murray Arena was packed for Williams\u2019s return. In attendance were her husband, Alexis, alongside their two daughters, Olympia and Adira, as well as Williams\u2019 friend Lindsey Vonn.<\/p>\n

It was Williams\u2019s first-ever appearance at Queen\u2019s Club, as the tournament only recently returned to the WTA in 2025 after a 50-year absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never got to play here, it was always just the men,\u201d said Williams, who last competed at the 2022 U.S. Open. \u201cIt felt really special to play some place so iconic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Both pairs had ups and downs throughout the match. Williams and the Canadian teenager led the first set 3-0, but Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez came roaring back to force a tiebreak, which they lost 2-7. The second set flew by, reminiscent of Williams\u2019s dominance throughout her time on the tour, giving Williams her first match win since August 31, 2022.<\/p>\n

Speaking of dominance, Williams showed off her power, a key to her game. Her first serve of the day clocked in at 113.9 miles per hour, and her serve speed peaked at an astonishing 120 mph.<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

Serena Williams of the United States and Victoria Mboko of Canada celebrate a point against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during the Women\u2019s Doubles first round match at at The Queen\u2019s Club. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cA C-minus,\u201d Williams said at her press conference when grading her performance. \u201cWith all the elements, considering coming back on grass is probably not the easiest surface. \u2026 Grass, four years. Overall, I think it was decent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Discussion has been swirling on whether Williams could play at Wimbledon, where she\u2019s won seven singles titles and seven doubles titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, like I said the other day, it\u2019s just a day at a time,\u201d Williams said when asked after the win. \u201cI still have a little time to decide, and they have been great about giving me that space and time to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

A big part of Williams\u2019 return was her young daughters being able to watch her play. Adira, her youngest, was born in August 2023, so Tuesday marked the first time she saw her mom play a competitive match. Williams was also asked what her daughters thought about her win.<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

Serena Williams pumping her fist at the HSBC Championships. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

Serena Williams hits a return during a doubles match at the Queen\u2019s Club. AP Photo\/Alberto Pezzali<\/p>\n

\u201cAdira wanted to go to the toy store and Olympia wanted to go for dinner. That\u2019s kids for you,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t care if you have broken serve or the internet, they just want to be fed on time and have new toys to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Queen\u2019s Club quarterfinals, Williams and Mboko will face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday. Fernandez was runner-up in women\u2019s singles at the 2021 US Open.<\/p>\n

\u2014 with AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serena Williams made a victorious return to tennis, 1,376 days after her last professional match. The 44-year-old Williams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[100660,9,24,100659,63,21130,122,124,123,82657,79755],"class_list":["post-261551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-erin-routliffe","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nicole-melichar-martinez","tag-nyc","tag-queens-club","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-serena-williams","tag-victoria-mboko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}