She returned to tennis in the Queen\u2019s Club doubles tournament
\n LONDON
\nSerena Williams said she had \u201cso much fun\u201d as the American legend rolled back the years in her triumphant return to tennis in the Queen\u2019s Club doubles on Tuesday.
\nFour years after appearing to end her glittering career, Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko powered to a 7-6 (7\/2), 6-2 win over third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round of the grass-court tournament.
\nWilliams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, stunned the sporting world a week ago with her shock announcement that she would compete in the Queen\u2019s Club doubles.
\nThe 44-year-old relished every minute of her remarkable return \u2014 after conquering a pre-match bout of nerves.
\n\u201cI got nervous like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just justlet it go,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t really think about being nervous, I thought about having fun, which I did.
\n\u201cIt was so fun. I had so much fun playing with Victoria.
\n\u201cI never got to play here before, it was always just the men.
\nIt feels really special to play somewhere so iconic.\u201d
\nWilliams\u2019 decision to pick up a racquet in a competitive setting for the first time since losing to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open had sparked questions about the wisdom of her move.
\nIt was like she had never been away as Williams produced her trademark thunderous serve and fearsome ground-strokes to the delight of a capacity crowd.
\nBut Williams wasn\u2019t completely satisfied with her first victory since beating then world number two Anett Kontaveit in the 2022 US Open second round.
\n\u201cOh my god! What do you think? A C minus?,\u201d she said when asked to rate her performance.
\n\u201cAll the elements, considering coming back on grass is probably not the easiest surface. On the grass, four years… Overall I think it was decent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She returned to tennis in the Queen\u2019s Club doubles tournament LONDON Serena Williams said she had \u201cso much fun\u201d as the American legend rolled back the years in her triumphant return to tennis in the Queen\u2019s Club doubles on Tuesday. Four years after appearing to end her glittering career, Williams and Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n