Serena Williams' Return Tour Ends After Doubles Partner Victoria Mboko's Injury Forces Withdrawal

Serena Williams' doubles run at Queen's Club is over and not because of a loss on the court.

Williams' playing partner, Victoria Mboko, suffered a knee injury during her singles match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday and was forced to withdraw from the tournament, per James Regan of ESPN.

Mboko lost the first set to Pliskova 2-6 but rallied back to take a 4-3 lead in the second before she slipped and grabbed her left knee. She retired from the match and told a physiotherapist there was "no stability right now," per the Associated Press.

While Williams revealed she also plans on playing doubles at the Berlin Open next week, having to drop out of the Queen's Club competition because of an injury to her partner would bring an unceremonious end to the tournament's biggest storyline.

The legend returned to the court for her first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open and thrilled fans with the power and winners she was known for during the peak of her career.

She and Mboko stunned the third-seeded pairing of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in straight sets 7-6 (2), 6-2 to set up a matchup against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals.

"A C-minus," Williams said during her on-court interview when asked to grade her performance in the return. "With all the elements, considering coming back on grass is probably not the easiest surface. ... Grass, four years. Overall, I think it was decent."

That she and Mboko managed to beat the No. 3 seed while the American was playing at a self-graded "C-minus" level figured to be worrisome to the rest of the field. After all, she's arguably the greatest player in tennis history with a resume that includes 73 singles titles and 23 Grand Slams.

It is unrealistic to expect the 44-year-old to be the same player as she was during her peak, but she looked more than capable of competing at a high level upon her return and only figures to improve as she battles past some of the potential rust after so much time away.