Serena Williams' Queen's doubles campaign ends as partner Victoria Mboko withdraws with knee injury

Serena Williams' doubles campaign at Queen's is over after her partner, Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a knee injury.

Mboko sustained the injury during her singles clash with Karolina Pliskova in the round of 16.

The 19-year-old fell 6-2 behind in the first set, but had taken a 4-3 lead in the second before being forced to retire.

It means their scheduled quarter-final against Germany's Laura Siegemund and Canada's Leylah Fernandez will not take place on Thursday, with their opponents progressing to the last four.

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Williams returned to action this week, having not competed since the 2022 US Open, teaming up with the prodigious Canadian to beat Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Mboko burst onto the scene last year after a sensational summer that saw her upset Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Naomi Osaka on her way to claiming the Canadian Open.

She also reached the final of the Qatar Open back in February, where she was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Karolina Muchova.

Serena on return to tennis: 'I got tired of sitting at home'

Video credit: SNTV

Williams is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest, players of all time, with a remarkable career that has seen her win seven Australian Opens, three French Opens, seven editions of Wimbledon and six US Open crowns.

She had taken a lengthy spell away from elite competition, but rumours of a return ran rampant last year after she asked the International Tennis Integrity Agency to return to tennis’ registered anti-doping testing pool.

She initially insisted she was "not coming back" to the sport in a post on social media, but earlier this month the 44-year-old confirmed that she would make her return.

"Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in a statement.

"Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Her sister, Venus Williams, also made a remarkable return to tennis last year, taking to the court for both singles and doubles events since.

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