Serena Williams Withdraws from Wimbledon Doubles with Sister Venus, 'Heartbroken' over Injury

Serena Williams announced Saturday that she has withdrawn from the 2026 Wimbledon women's doubles tournament with her sister, Venus Williams, due to injury.

In a post on Instagram, Serena expressed her disappointment over having to pull out of the tournament, writing:

"I'm heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus Williams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn't ready to compete.

"I'm especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful…All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you…"

Serena included photos and videos of her leg being examined and heavily wrapped. She also explained the nature of her injury, writing, "The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match…yikes! The good news is my knee shouldn't swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn't able to get it ready for doubles."

After having not played competitive tennis in nearly four years, the 44-year-old Williams returned to action last month, playing doubles with Victoria Mboko at the Queen's Club Championships and with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Tennis Open.

Serena then entered the Wimbledon doubles tournament with Venus, and after plenty of speculation, she entered the singles draw as well.

On Tuesday, Serena faced 20-year-old Aussie Maya Joint in the first round of the Wimbledon singles tournament. After falling behind by losing the first set, Serena battled back and forced a decisive third set.

Ultimately, Joint prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-3, but Serena impressed given how long of a layoff she had.

Williams' agent, Jill Smoller, released a statement in which she announced that Serena tweaked her knee during the match, adding that she was "doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match later this week."

Wimbledon tournament organizers pushed back Serena and Venus' scheduled first-round doubles match against Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra to Saturday in hopes that Serena would be fit to play by then, but it did not come to fruition.

Serena and Venus entered the tournament in search of their seventh Wimbledon doubles title and 15th Grand Slam doubles title as a team.

Instead, their return to the doubles ranks will have to be put on hold until Serena is sufficiently healed.