Photo credit: Adam Davy/PA Sports/Getty
Serving for the match, Serena Williams reached back for crackling closure.
Slashing successive aces, former world No. 1 Williams brought conviction to her Queen’s Club comeback today.
Shaking off the rust of three-and-a-half years of inactivity, the 44-year-old superstar slammed serves as fast as 120 miles an hour, sprang around the iconic lawn on fresh legs, drilled drive volleys and closed in classic Serena fashion.
In her first pro match in three years and nine months, the icon was inspired.
Williams and 19-year-old partner Victoria Mboko defeated third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 in their Queen’s Club opening match.
Three years, nine months and six days after her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in her last pro match at the 2022 US Open, Serena returned before a completely packed Andy Murray Arena and, perhaps surprisingly, looked a lot like the Serena Williams we all recall.
“I mean, I think I was nervous, but I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t really think about being nervous,” Williams told the media in London. “I just thought about having fun, which I did today. I just
thought about… that’s it.
“So I didn’t really have time. I got nervous right before the match, like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go.”
Embed from Getty ImagesShaking off the rust relatively quickly, Serena showed virtually the entire shot spectrum.
Afterward, a laughing Serena looked happy to be back, though she was self-critical of her return game in the on-court interview with Tennis Channel’s Christopher Eubanks.
“Well, we had a lot of fun,” Williams said with a laugh. “But there’s room for improvement.”
A lively and enthusiastic Queen’s Club crowd created an electric atmosphere that felt more like a singles final Sunday than an opening doubles Tuesday.
Clad in a sleeveless white Nike top, pink skirt, pink Nikes and matching pink grip on her black Wilson Blade, Williams was the only player on the court not wearing a visor to combat London’s late afternoon sun.
“There were so many times in the match where we were kind of like: This could be so much better, we could be doing some more,” Mboko said. “It was a little funny, it added a little humor to it, it kind of made me more relaxed.
“At the end of the day, we just went for it. Both of our game styles, I feel, complement each really well and that really helped us get through today.”
Clad in a sleeveless white Nike top, pink skirt, pink Nikes and matching pink grip on her black Wilson Blade, Williams was the only player on the court not wearing a visor to combat London’s late afternoon sun.
“There were so many times in the match where we were kind of like: This could be so much better, we could be doing some more,” Mboko said. “It was a little funny, it added a little humor to it, it kind of made me more relaxed.
“At the end of the day, we just went for it. Both of our game styles, I feel, complement each really well and that really helped us get through today.”
Serena Williams looked more relaxed on court than during her peak period of singles, but was still ripping the ball with vigor.
“I think Vicky’s doing great—I think I need to make some returns next match, which I will,” Williams said. “I didn’t miss one in practice, but ooh, yeah, that was a little embarrassing out there.
“The good news is: I can do better. We both can do better.”
A few immediate observations:
*Watching Serena launch a 120 mph rocket serving at 5-all, 30-all in the first set—then slash successive aces serving out the match—was a reminder of how the vintage Serena serve, at its best, outshone all competitors like a lightning bolt compared to lightning bugs.
*After a three-and-a-half year layoff, you’d expect Williams’ reaction time and skill reading the play to be dulled if not diminished. Surprisingly, Williams, who netted her first volley, showed some sharp reactions, often anticipated directions of drives and quickly and clearly communicated with the speedy Mboko, one of the fastest women in the game.
*Many of Williams’ miscues were due to faulty footwork. For instance, she failed to move her feet and was flat-footed on contact when she bungled an easy smash from nearly on top of the net with Mboko serving at 7-6, 3-2. She sometimes didn’t bend her knees on low backhands that found the top of the tape—all correctable mistakes.
*Here’s a tennis truth: whether Williams is 44, 64 or 84 years old, if you’re going to leave a ball hanging high when Serena is stalking the net, better wear a catcher’s mask for protection. The Serena swing volley rattled Routliffe’s rib cage at one point and nailed Melichar-Martinez in the hand with another drive volley. Thankfully, no head-hunting…yet.
*Top Draw. Think about it: This was a doubles match on a Tuesday afternoon and the Andy Murray court was packed with fans crammed on the Club’s balcony and into every conceivable space. That created an electric buzz that built to an eruptive crescendo when Mboko and Williams made that traditional walk down the steps, through the crowd onto the historic grass that has hosted the game’s greatest champions from J. Donald Budge to Pancho Gonzalez to Rod Laver to John McEnroe to Boris Becker to Pete Sampras to Novak Djokovic to Murray himself. Every time Serena Williams steps on court it’s a major event for tennis—and a moment where the rest of the sports world turns its eyes to the tennis court.