In her return to professional tennis, Serena Williams and Victoria Mboko formed a good doubles partnership and won their first match at the HSBC Championships. Unfortunately, Mboko was injured in her next singles match and had to withdraw from the event, which ended Williams' run, too.
At the Berlin Open, with Mboko still out with a knee injury (one that could keep the rising star out for some time), Williams formed a duo with Karolina Muchova at the Berlin Open. Muchova is capable of greatness in singles, but doesn't have much of a history playing doubles. It showed.
Williams and Muchova had issues communicating during points at times, as they hadn't played together long enough to understand what the tendencies of the other are. Sometimes, one or the other would not aggressively play a ball from their opponents, Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe, and would lose the point because of it.
Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova dropped in first match at the Berlin Open
The match remained close, though, as both Muchova and Williams showed off the kind of power that has helped them win high-end singles tournaments, but doubles works differently. Their lack of chemistry hurts.
Olmos and Routliffe got the break they needed late in the first set to take the set 6-4. The same happened earlier in the second, and Muchova and Williams were simply playing catch-up for most of the set. Both were brilliant at times, but Olmos and Routliffe were simply a tighter team.
This isn't the kind of issue that should be a problem for Serena Williams at Wimbledon, of course. She and her sister, Venus Williams, will play together at the 2026 version of the grass-court major. The pair has won 14 major titles together and has never lost a doubles final at a Grand Slam.
The duo might not have played together for many years, but that shouldn't be a problem at Wimbledon. They could be a real threat to win the event.
As far as Serena Williams playing with Karolina Muchova again, that could remain in doubt, especially if Williams returns to playing singles and doesn't play doubles as often. The duo is probably capable of great things if they worked together long enough to build cohesion, but there might not be enough time for that.
Eventually, Olmos and Routliffe were too cohesive of a team. They took the second set 6-4.
Olmos and Routliffe will next face the third-seeded team of Sara Errani and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the quarterfinals of the Berlin Open. Tennis fans know they haven't seen the last of Serena Williams, though.
Add us as a preferred source on Google