Serena Williams Say She Doesn't 'Need to Win' in Tennis Comeback, Talks Potentially Playing Singles

Serena Williams is not focused on outcomes ahead of her return to professional tennis at the HSBC Championships in London on this week, where she'll pair with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in doubles.

"I don't need to win," the tennis legend told reporters. "I've won more than most people have in their whole lives, so it's not that important to me, and it's important that I keep reminding myself of that, because I don't have anything to prove. I don't have anything to lose, and everything here is just to gain."

She added that one of her motivations to return to the sport was so that her children could see her play.

"This whole journey is like, I'm putting no pressure on myself," Williams noted. "For me right now, it's really just about so many elements. It's really about my kids getting to see me play. Olympia is a little bit older, Adira is very young. An athlete is the best thing that you can be in the highest place, and having an opportunity to still be able to do that, possibly one last time, is kind of cool and exciting."

As for whether she'll eventually return to singles, Williams didn't rule it out, though she added that "I probably need to train a little bit more if I want to play singles, and we will see if I get there, and if not ... that's not my journey right now."

Williams and Mboko will face Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round of the HSBC Championships. It's a tough test, though Mboko doesn't think the nearly four-year layoff for Williams has diminished the characteristics that made her great.

"She has such clean ball striking," Mboko told reporters. "She could take years off and when she steps on the court, she could probably find that rhythm again in no time."