American legend Serena Williams claimed she had “so much fun” as she rolled back the years in her victorious return to tennis at the Queen’s Club yesterday.
Williams, who seemingly closed the curtains on her sparkling career four years ago, and Canadian prodigy Victoria Mboko crushed third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the opening round of the grass-court tournament.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion shocked the athletic world a week ago when she announced to great surprise she will play Queen’s Club doubles, AFP reported.
The 44-year-old enjoyed every second of her incredible comeback – after overcoming a pre-match bout of jitters.
“ I got nervous like 30 minutes before and then I just let it go,” she added.
“I didn’t really think about being nervous, I thought about having fun, which is what I did.
It was so much fun. I had so much pleasure to play with Victoria.
“I never played here before, it was always the men. It’s quite great playing in such an iconic place.”
Williams’ move to play a competitive match for the first time since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open has raised questions about the appropriateness of her action.
Williams produced her signature thundering serve and vicious ground-strokes to the delight of a capacity audience, it was as like she had never been away.
But Williams was not quite pleased with her first win since defeating then world number two Anett Kontaveit in the second round of the 2022 US Open.
Oh my God! Any thoughts? “A C minus,” she answered when asked to grade her performance.
\”All the elements, thinking about coming back on grass is certainly not the easiest surface. Four years on grass… “Overall I think it was decent.”
She’s got it’
Williams has revealed her motivation for returning was to play in front of her children.
Her two young children Olympia and Adira and husband Alexis Ohanian were at courtside in west London to witness a typical feisty display from one of the sport’s all-time greats.
But the win did not deter Williams’ children from more important issues, she said.
‘Adira wanted to go to the toy store and Olympia wanted to know what was for supper,’ she said.
Williams and Mboko will meet Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals.
Next week, the American will also compete in doubles at the Berlin Open.
But the chance of seeing her make a surprising comeback at Wimbledon is what has her supporters eagerly awaiting an update.
Williams downplayed the notion of playing singles at Wimbledon where she is a seven-time champion when she met the media on Sunday.
Pressed yesterday about featuring in the Wimbledon doubles, said: “Yeah, like I said the other day, it’s just day by day.
“I have a little bit of time to decide and they (Wimbledon officials) have been brilliant giving me that space and time to decide.
By the time Mboko was born in 2006, Williams had already won seven Grand Slam singles titles.
The 19-year-old called Williams her “idol” and said it was a wonderful experience to play alongside her.
“Of course first of all I’m so grateful even knowing I could play with Serena with me,” she remarked.
“I don’t play doubles that much, but I think sharing the court, I think I can learn a lot, even though we’re competing. Just had so much fun today.”
And Mboko, ranked ninth in singles, has no doubts Williams will soon be back to her best.
“I thought she was doing great,” he said. “I know it was way below her level, but it’s good to have that much room for improvement and the motivation to get better,” she added.
“I thought it was pretty good all around. “There was one shot where I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s got it.’”
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