The Sports Guru
It was meant to be one of the images of the fortnight: Serena and Venus Williams back on a Grand Slam court together for the first time in four years. Instead a knee injury, picked up in Serena's singles defeat earlier in the week, has taken the reunion away before it could happen. This covers what was planned, why it fell through, what Serena said about it, and what the wider comeback looks like now the doubles is gone.
Serena Williams has withdrawn from her planned Wimbledon doubles appearance alongside older sister Venus because of a knee injury, ending a reunion that had been one of the more anticipated moments of the tournament. The pair, six-time doubles champions at the All England Club, were due to line up together on a Grand Slam court for the first time since 2022, but the 44-year-old was not fit enough to take her place after hurting the knee during her singles defeat by Australia's Maya Joint on Tuesday. What was set up to be a celebration became, in the end, a quiet and rather sad withdrawal.
A reunion four years in the making, undone late
The plan had looked increasingly real as the week went on. Williams' doubles tie, against Colombia's Camila Osorio and Argentina's Solana Sierra, was added to Friday's order of play, and the way it was scheduled told its own story. The match was not allocated a court and not due to be played before 16:30 BST, an arrangement that quietly handed Williams as much time as possible to declare herself fit while leaving Wimbledon no scheduling headache if she could not. She was due to practise at 16:00 and announced her decision to pull out around 15 minutes before that, the call made about as late as it could reasonably be.
The signs had been there since Tuesday, even if they were not obvious at the time. Williams showed little sign of a problem during her three-set loss to the 20-year-old Joint and did not ask for treatment on court, but the knee was said to have swelled quickly once she came off. In the post announcing her withdrawal she shared photographs of bandaging on her left knee and of what she said were syringes used to drain fluid from the area, a blunt illustration of why the decision was taken out of her hands.
"My knee just isn't ready to compete"
Williams did not hide her disappointment. "I'm heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles," she wrote on Instagram. "Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn't ready to compete." Wimbledon organisers, explaining her silence after the Joint match, said she had been "not able to undertake" her media duties, a small detail that in hindsight pointed to a problem being managed rather than a snub.
She was careful, too, to thank the people who had given the comeback its stage. "I'm especially grateful to tournament director Jamie Baker and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here," she wrote, before turning to the crowds who had lifted her through the week. "Thank you to the fans after your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful." Then, in a line that read like a promise rather than a goodbye, she added: "All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you." The mood around the SW19 grounds when the news broke was largely one of sadness, the sense of a moment that so nearly happened.
A comeback that still counts for something
It would be easy to file this under disappointment and leave it there, but that would undersell what the fortnight actually was. Returning to Grand Slam singles after four years away was a bold move in itself, and one Williams committed to late, having played only a couple of doubles matches at Queen's and Berlin beforehand. There were glimpses of the old force in the defeat by Joint, the booming first serve and the winners struck with intent, set against the rust you would expect from someone so long out of singles competition. The reason she was on court for the doubles at all was that the week had given her, and those around her, enough to believe the comeback was worth continuing. That belief has not been erased by a swollen knee, even if it now comes with an obvious asterisk. For the full context of the match where the injury took hold, see our report on Serena's singles return against Maya Joint.
What happens next
Williams has not confirmed what the next stage of her comeback will look like, and "stay tuned to a city near you" is the only clue on offer. The calendar points one way: after Wimbledon the season moves to the North American hard court swing, which builds towards the US Open between 30 August and 13 September. That is her home Grand Slam, a tournament she has won six times, and the same court where in 2022 she played what many assumed would be the final match of her career. Turning 45 in September, with a knee that has just needed draining, she faces the honest question of whether her body can hold up to competitive tennis across a demanding stretch of hard courts. The spirit, on this week's evidence, is not in doubt. The rest is harder to guarantee.
Verdict: a goodbye that wasn't, and a story not quite over
The withdrawal robbed Wimbledon of a genuinely special sight, two sisters who have won six titles together on these courts sharing one more, and there is no dressing that up as anything other than a shame. But Serena Williams did not come back to play one perfect doubles match. She came back to compete, and for a week she did, well enough to leave the door open rather than close it. The knee has decided this chapter, not her. On the strength of that closing line, it would be premature to assume the last word has been written.
Frequently Asked Questions
Serena Williams withdrew because of a knee injury she picked up during her singles defeat by Maya Joint on Tuesday. The knee swelled after the match, and she said it simply was not ready to compete, sharing photos of bandaging and of syringes used to drain fluid from the area.
She was due to play alongside her older sister Venus Williams, with whom she is a six-time Wimbledon doubles champion. It would have been their first appearance together on a Grand Slam court since 2022. Their tie was against Colombia's Camila Osorio and Argentina's Solana Sierra.
In an Instagram post she said she was "heartbroken" and that playing alongside Venus "meant the world" to her, adding that she did everything she could to be ready. She thanked tournament director Jamie Baker and the fans, and signed off with "stay tuned to a city near you".
She has not confirmed her plans. The season now moves to the North American hard court swing, which culminates at the US Open between 30 August and 13 September, the tournament she has won six times and where she played what many expected to be her final match in 2022.
Sources: Reporting by BBC Sport.
