Williams, 44, stepped onto the grass at Queen’s in west London last week and over the weekend, before a wild card appearance in the women’s doubles alongside 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.
Her return follows months of waiting, after she re-entered tennis’ anti-doping testing program late last year and became eligible to compete in February.
The attention surrounding Williams’ return at the prestigious tournament was evident long before she stepped onto the match court. During practice sessions at Queen’s, spectators packed the viewing areas several rows deep, lining the railings and spilling down the walkways to watch Williams and Mboko train, with phones raised throughout.
After Williams’ first appearance on the practice courts Thursday, the 23-time singles Grand Slam champion’s next run-out arrived Sunday.
Williams and Mboko were scheduled to practice on Court 7 Saturday morning, but a day of rain, which eventually saw all qualifying matches abandoned, prevented that. Williams instead practiced off-site, and posted a clip on TikTok from a nearby indoor court at a separate club. “When it rains, we adjust,” she wrote.
With Sunday’s practice set for 10 a.m. on Court 7, the closest court to the private members’ clubhouse, Williams emerged with a quick change into white tennis shoes with a black Nike tick, along with some custom ankle straps and the black face patches she wears to relieve sinus pressure. She started the one-and-a-half-hour slot by hitting some rallies with Mboko from behind the baseline, under the guidance of Australian coach Rennae Stubbs.
Media cameras pointed down from the hospitality balcony on Williams like a spotlight, following her every move of the session. It ended in a 30-minute practice set with Mboko, against two male training partners.
When Williams began to practice those familiar serves, there was an audible gasp of excitement from fans who missed her and some who had never seen her play at all. A young girl shouted, “Serena, Serena,” which slightly, and quite sweetly, broke her concentration.
When Williams and Mboko practiced on the same side of the net at the end of their slot, there were a couple of moments when Stubbs told Mboko where best to position herself during Williams’ serve. The pair high-fived, whispered and giggled to one another whether a point was won or lost. At the end of the session, they held their hands together to measure them, before studying each other’s rackets.
Williams then changed out of her shoes, untied the straps from her ankles, picked up her bag and followed Mboko off court. With their respective entourages in tow, they left through a security-patrolled door beneath the Sir Andy Murray Arena. Giant lettering above them read, “Grass court season.”
That is back this week, and so is Williams.
When one of the GOATs of tennis first left the sport in 2022, she famously described the decision as “evolving away” rather than retiring, leaving open the possibility of a return. Few expected it to come nearly four years later.
Her comeback will begin at a tournament that is still finding its place in the modern women’s game. Elite women’s tennis returned to Queen’s Club in 2025 for the first time since 1973, ending a 52-year absence and restoring a historic stop on the grass-court calendar just three weeks before Wimbledon.
The choice of venue is a fitting one, as grass provided some of the defining moments of Williams’ career, including seven Wimbledon singles titles, and Queen’s has long been one of the most significant tournaments in the build-up to the third Grand Slam of the year.
For Mboko, one of the fastest-rising young players on the WTA Tour, the opportunity arrived unexpectedly. In her pre-tournament news conference, the Canadian said that Williams contacted her while she was competing at the Strasbourg International, a clay event before the French Open, to ask whether she wanted to play doubles at Queen’s.
The partnership brings together two players at vastly different stages of their careers. Williams’ place in tennis history is secure, while Mboko is starting her journey at the highest level.
“Growing up, Serena has always been my idol in a way,” the 19-year-old said. “I just remember watching her on TV and her matches so many times.”
“When the news came out a lot of people were asking me about it and stuff like that,” she said. “But I’m just playing doubles. I still want to be competitive and want to do very well.”
Williams and Mboko will start their Queen’s campaign against the third-seeded pairing of New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the middle of next week, providing an immediate test for the new partnership. Routliffe was world No. 1 in doubles two years ago, and has established herself as one of the leading doubles players during Williams’ absence.
Mboko provided the most revealing assessment of Williams’ level. After practicing alongside the American this week, Mboko suggested the years away from competition had done little to diminish the qualities that made Williams one of the greatest players of her generation. The question is whether she can produce them under match pressure, over and over.
“She has such clean ball striking,” Mboko said. “She could take years off and when she steps on the court, she could probably find that rhythm again in no time.”
Mboko added that Williams was “hitting pretty big” and looked “really fit” during practice sessions.
What kind of comeback Queen’s will prompt remains unclear. Williams has taken a doubles wild card into the Berlin Open, before a possible appearance at Wimbledon, where she won six women’s doubles titles.
What is already clear is the level of interest surrounding her comeback, which will only grow as it develops.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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