Serena Williams made a triumphant return to professional tennis on Tuesday, winning her first match in 1,375 days at the Queen's Club grass-court tournament in London. Playing doubles alongside Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, the 44-year-old American defeated third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in front of a packed crowd of over 9,000 fans at the Andy Murray Arena — the showpiece court at the west London club, which has hosted elite grass-court tennis since 1890.

Williams, who holds 23 Grand Slam singles titles and is widely regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time, last competed at the 2022 US Open. She announced in that same year that she was "evolving away" from the sport. Speculation about a possible comeback grew when her name appeared in drug-testing pools and on the International Tennis Integrity Agency's reinstatements list earlier this year, but her return was only confirmed last week. Her 19-year-old partner Mboko, who was born in 2006 — the year Williams already had seven Grand Slam titles to her name — is ranked ninth in the world in singles.

The match was not without early nerves: Williams put her very first volley into the net, and the opening set required a tiebreak after she was broken in the seventh game. But her serve — once the most feared in the women's game — still carried genuine threat, with one clocked at 120mph, and her powerful groundstrokes drew roars from the crowd. Williams rated her own performance a "C-minus," though Mboko was more generous: "I thought she was moving great." Watching from the stands were Williams's daughters, eight-year-old Olympia and three-year-old Adira, whose presence she cited as a key motivation. Asked what the girls thought of her performance, Williams joked: "Adira wanted to go to the toy store and Olympia wanted to know what's for dinner."

Williams was characteristically candid about her reasons for returning. "I got tired of sitting at home," she said. "My kids are out of school for the summer, so why not? I have nothing to prove." She also referenced the recent comebacks of close friends Lindsey Vonn, the alpine skiing champion, and track athlete Allyson Felix, adding: "You can do anything at any age."

The comeback has been welcomed warmly across the tennis world. World number one Aryna Sabalenka called Williams "a legend" and said the return was "very good news for tennis," while former world number one Naomi Osaka, who has cited the Williams sisters as her biggest inspirations, said she had been looking forward to watching the first match. Williams and Mboko will face Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Germany's Laura Siegemund in the second round, and Williams is also scheduled to play doubles in Berlin next week. Whether a return to singles is on the horizon remains open: "For singles, I cannot say yes, I cannot say no. Right now it is no — I probably need to train a bit more. We'll see," she said.