Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova fall at first hurdle in Berlin Open doubles as Coco Gauff reveals doubles dream

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Serena Williams' preparations for Wimbledon took a hit with a first-round defeat at the Berlin Open alongside new doubles partner Karolina Muchova.

'The main reason I decided to play tennis' - Gauff on Williams influence

Video credit: SNTV

The tennis icon was granted a wildcard to compete with sister Venus at SW19 this summer, having made a sensational return to the sport after almost four years away.

But Serena and Muchova were unable to get past Giuliana Olmos and Erin Routliffe on Tuesday afternoon, falling to a 6-4 6-4 defeat in just over 90 minutes.

Routliffe formed half of the duo that Serena defeated on her victorious comeback at the Queen's Club Championships earlier in June.

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Victoria Mboko was the 44-year-old's partner in that 7-6(2) 6-2 win, but an MCL injury to the Canadian put paid to their progression in London.

In Berlin, Australian doubles specialist Routliffe paid tribute to the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion despite defeating her.

"It was such a fun experience and to play here on centre court a first-round doubles. We love that Serena is playing doubles. We play doubles all the time and it makes people watch more doubles," Routliffe said.

"Everyone's going to be watching her match, so to be able to be on the other side of the net is such an honour."

Routliffe's doubles partner Olmos added: "It was honestly an honour for me to be able to share the court with Serena. It's awesome that she's back.

"The draw came out a few days ago so I was mentally preparing for that. I just tried to focus on our side of the court, just engage a lot with Erin and not really think too much about her.

"Obviously it's hard - you see her every single point. But I just tried to stay focused on each point and have fun today."

Meanwhile, two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff has said she is excited to potentially share the court with her idol - extending an invitation for Serena to pair up with her at a future tournament.

The American extended an invitation to her compatriot to compete together in doubles "one day."

Gauff said: "Yeah, she [Serena] is definitely one of the main reasons why I decided to play tennis, for sure.

"Yeah, it'd be really cool. I'm hoping that one day she'll hit up my line to play doubles. That would be really, really cool.

"And if she were to compete in singles, it would be cool to step on the court with her just because she's a legend and someone I looked up to. I'm very excited to be in the same spaces as her again."

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