Serena Williams' Highlights & Final Stats in 1st Match Since Retirement at HSBC Championships

Serena Williams started her comeback to professional tennis with a doubles victory.

Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko won 7-6(2), 6-2 against the No. 3-seeded duo of Australia's Erin Routliffe and the United States' Nicole Melichar-Martinez in Tuesday's first round of the HSBC Championships.

Mboko and Williams will now advance to the quarterfinals at the Queen's Club in London.

Williams celebrated her return to competitive tennis for the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open by helping Mboko close out the opening game with her backhand.

Mboko and Williams went on to take a 3-0 lead in the first set.

Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez came back at 4-4 to tie the set, which Williams and Mboko ultimately took in a tiebreak.

Williams and Mboko dominated in the second set before Williams closed out the match with the duo's second ace of the afternoon.

Mboko and Williams finished out the win having forced Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez to face five break points while converting three opportunities.

They won 78.3 percent of first-serve points and 38.1 percent of first-return points.

Mboko and Williams outscored Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez in both service points won (42 to 37) and return points won (22 to 19).

The duo will now advance to face either Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Germany's Laura Siegemund or the Dutch duo of Alexander Panova and Demi Schuurs in the quarterfinals.