HSBC Championships 2026: Victoria Mboko forced to withdraw from doubles with Serena Williams
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Victoria Mboko has been forced to withdraw from the HSBC Championships women’s doubles draw with a left knee injury.
Mboko had been set to play in the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club with 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, after the duo knocked out third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2.
The young Canadian sustained the injury yesterday in her second round singles match against former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova, which forced her to retire in the second set.
It’s an unfortunate start to the grass court swing for Mboko, who is one of the brightest stars on tour – breaking into the top-10 earlier this year – and had been poised for a strong campaign at Queen's.
44-year-old Williams was playing in her first tournament back on the WTA Tour in almost four years and made an impressive return to court on Tuesday evening.
Earlier in the week, Williams gave no indication of her future plans for this summer and beyond. She is currently only set to play in the women’s doubles draw at the Berlin Open next week.
Their withdrawal means that Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund have a walkover into the semi-final where they face either Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani or Iva Jovic and McCartney Kessler.
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