Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko made quite the pair. The doubles team won their first match of the HSBC Championships in Williams' return to professional tennis after a nearly four-year absence. The icon looked so good, in fact, that playing in singles might not be far in the future.
But Williams and Mboko's next match was scheduled to happen soon. The two would have played their quarterfinals match at the HSBC Championships on Thursday, June 11, no earlier than 12:30 pm ET (that is 5:30 pm BST). The issue is that Mboko, unfortunately, suffered what appeared to be a knee injury in her singles match on Wednesday.
At the time of this writing (which will be updated with the latest information), the young Canadian star has yet to withdraw from doubles in London, but the move seems likely. While playing with Williams is an honor, Mboko makes her living doing well in singles matches.
Serena Williams next match in her return might not come until the Berlin Open
She shouldn't risk the rest of her grass-court schedule, including Wimbledon, by returning too quickly to play doubles. At the time of her knee injury, Mboko was trailing Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 4-3, but with a real chance to even the match and force a third set. After taking a medical timeout, she retired.
Clearly, Serena Williams is not going to push Victoria Mboko to play if she has any level of injury. Williams knows well herself just what a toll getting hurt can take on one's career. She wouldn't want to risk the Canadian to further aggravate the issue, causing her to miss the next major.
Even if Mboko can no longer play at the HSBC Championships, the most recent match won't be Williams' last in her comeback. She is already scheduled to play in the Berlin Open next week. Her doubles partner won't be Mboko again, though. Instead, the tennis legend will partner with Karolina Muchova.
The Czech hasn't played loads of doubles, just as Mboko hadn't. Muchova has a career record of 16-15, though she did reach the semifinals in doubles at the China Open in 2025.
Ideally, Serena Williams, if she only continues to play doubles, might find a partner who has excelled in that aspect of tennis. One might think fellow Americans Jessica Pegula or Coco Gauff might be asked. Whether they answer yes is up to them, and maybe they don't want to be overshadowed by Williams, but the prospect of the pairings would be intriguing to tennis fans.
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