The Williams sisters’ Wimbledon reunion is over before it began, with Serena Williams pulling out of doubles because of a knee injury from her singles comeback earlier in the week.
Serena, 44, and Venus, 46, had been scheduled to face Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round. The match had already been pushed back to give Serena more time to recover, but the pressure is now on her body rather than the draw.
The withdrawal denied fans a rare Grand Slam doubles appearance from one of tennis’ most decorated partnerships. It would have been the sisters’ first Grand Slam doubles tournament together since the 2022 U.S. Open, and their first Wimbledon team appearance since they won the title at the All England Club in 2016.
Serena said in an Instagram post that she was devastated to miss the match. “I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @venuswilliams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete,” she wrote.
The post showed images Serena said were of fluid drained from her knee after her singles match. A video also showed her walking with strapping on her right leg, with what appeared to be one of her daughters holding a cane nearby.
Serena had returned to major singles play earlier in the week, losing 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to Australia’s Maya Joint on Tuesday.
The sisters remain six-time Wimbledon doubles champions as a team, with 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together. Serena still left a door open for another appearance, writing: “All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you.”
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Tags (set manually in WP): Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Wimbledon, Tennis, Grand Slam, Williams Sisters
