Serena Williams withdrew from her first-round doubles match at Wimbledon on Saturday, ending what was supposed to be a reunion alongside sister Venus on the grass courts where the pair have won six titles together. A right knee injury, sustained during her singles loss earlier in the week, left the 44-year-old unable to compete, cutting short one of the most anticipated storylines of the 2025 tournament.
Williams announced the decision on Instagram, posting images of four syringes she said showed "the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match." An accompanying video showed her walking with strapping running up and down her right leg, with what appeared to be one of her daughters holding a cane for her.
The withdrawal didn't just end Serena's Wimbledon. It effectively ended Venus's tournament, too. The 46-year-old had already lost her mixed doubles match on Friday, falling in straight sets alongside Kevin Krawietz to Tereza Mihalikova and Lloyd Glasspool. With Serena out, the sisters' scheduled opponents, Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra, advanced without hitting a ball.
Serena's singles return had lasted exactly one match. On Tuesday, she fell to 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. It was her first competitive singles appearance in nearly four years. Her agent told the New York Post she "tweaked her knee" during the first set of that match.
Wimbledon organizers had pushed back the Williams sisters' doubles match, the only first-round doubles pairing not scheduled earlier in the week, to give Serena more time to recover. It wasn't enough.
In her Instagram post, Williams struck a tone of gratitude mixed with disappointment:
"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 left the door open for future appearances, adding: "All I can say, is stay tuned to a city near you." The U.S. Open looms later this summer as the next major opportunity.
The All England Club had granted the Williams sisters a doubles wild card, a gesture that carried real weight given the pair's history on Centre Court. As the AP reported when the invitation was announced, the sisters own 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six at Wimbledon, in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2012, and 2016. Their first two Wimbledon doubles crowns also came as wild card entrants.
Their last doubles appearance together was at the 2022 U.S. Open, where they lost in the opening round. That match had been widely viewed at the time as a final farewell. Serena's return to competition this year, she had played doubles at Queen's Club and the Berlin Open ahead of Wimbledon, rewrote that narrative.
Serena herself credited her daughter Olympia with nudging her back onto the court with Venus. As she put it when the wild card was announced:
"I think it's going to be fun. My daughter, Olympia, told me I should play with Venus. She's always right. So I said, 'OK Olympia, we'll see if we can do it.'"
They couldn't, at least not this time.
The exact nature of the knee injury remains unclear. Williams described fluid being drained but offered no formal diagnosis beyond saying the knee "just isn't ready." Whether this is a structural issue or something that rest can resolve will shape whether her comeback extends beyond Wimbledon.
It's also unclear whether Venus could have found a replacement partner to continue in the doubles draw. The wild card had been issued specifically for the sisters as a team, and the withdrawal appears to have ended the entry outright.
The broader question is whether Serena's return to professional tennis can survive the physical toll. She is 44 years old. She spent nearly four years away from the sport. Her first singles match back produced a competitive three-set performance, and a knee full of fluid that required drainage with four syringes.
None of that diminishes what she's accomplished. Twenty-three Grand Slam singles titles speak for themselves. But the body has its own scoreboard, and right now it's winning.
Sports comebacks make for great stories. Fans want them. Networks want them. Tournament organizers want them, Wimbledon pushed back a match to accommodate one. But the reality of elite athletics at 44 is unforgiving. Serena Williams earned the right to try. She also earned the right to walk away when the knee said no.
What she hasn't earned, and what no one should grant her, is a pass from honest assessment. If the knee heals and she competes again, wonderful. If it doesn't, the farewell tour needs to be recognized for what it is.
The grass at Wimbledon doesn't care about legacy. It only cares whether you can move.
