Tennis fans had been hoping to see as much as possible of Serena Williams and Mirra Andreeva over the next few weeks, after the former’s comeback and the latter’s French Open triumph. But there were left sorely disappointed on Thursday when Serena’s campaign at Queen’s was ended by an injury to her doubles partner, and Andreeva withdrew from her next tournament.
Williams has made a stunning return to tennis for the first time in four years, partnering with Victoria Mboko to beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in the first round of doubles at Queen’s. But that was all she wrote for Williams and Mboko after Mboko suffered a knee injury after a fall while playing singles.
The Canadian was unable to recover in time to take her place alongside Williams against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund, meaning they had to withdraw. Williams will play at the Berlin Open next week as she continues her build-up to a potential Wimbledon return, with the 44-year-old teaming up with Karolina Muchova.
Mirra Andreeva withdraws from Berlin Open
But Berlin will be without some serious star power after Andreeva decided to withdraw. The 19-year-old is coming off the back of winning her first grand slam title at the French Open and is prioritising rest and recovery for Wimbledon.
“My team and I have decided to take more time to rest, recover and better prepare for grass,” Andreeva said in a statement. “I’ll miss the time in Berlin. Hope to be back next year!”
Tournament organisers said: “We are sad to announce that Mirra has withdrawn from our tournament. We are very happy to see that she had such a great result in Paris, but unfortunately, this also means some sad news for us. We wish you all the best for the rest of the season and hope to see you soon.”
Andreeva was joined by World No.11 Belinda Bencic in withdrawing from Berlin. Bencic suffered an ankle injury while preparing for Queen’s.
On social media, fans expressed their sadness that they won’t be seeing Andreeva in Berlin, but supported her decision. Fans were also heartbroken that Williams and Mboko had to withdraw from Queen’s and wished Mboko all the best for a speedy recovery.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/tennis-world-saddened-after-serena-williams-and-french-open-champ-both-forced-to-withdraw-015315721.html
