Serena Williams +9407 in WTA Rankings after doubles win at Queen’s Club
The name Serena Williams will return to the doubles WTA Rankings when it is next updated following her comeback win alongside Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club Championship.
Having evolved away from tennis after the 2022 US Open, the tennis great dropped out of both the singles and doubles rankings with her last doubles match also at Flushing Meadows nearly four years ago when she partnered her sister Venus.
The pair lost in the first round against Lucia Hradecka and Linda Noskova with Serena at No 10,412 in the rankings at the time. In terms of the singles, the 23-time Grand Slam winner – who reached the third round in New York before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic – was ranked No 605.
Nearly four years later, Williams will be in the doubles ranking again and she will feature in the top 600 following her first-round win with Mboko, with the duo upsetting third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
Despite being one of the greatest ever athletes, there was still nerves for the 44-year-old before she stepped onto the Andy Murray Arena.
“I mean, I think I was nervous, but I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t really think about being nervous,” she said.
“I just thought about having fun, which I did today. I just thought about — that’s it. So I didn’t really have time. I got nervous right before the match, like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go. Yeah.”
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Yet despite a comfortable win on the scoreboard, the tennis great felt there is still plenty of room for improvement, if the rating of her own performance is anything to go by.
“My God, I think I would give myself – what do you think? A C-minus?” she said before adding, “Overall, I think it was decent.”
With the duo making it to the quarter-final, they are assured of earning 108 ranking points each.
Having had no ranking at the start of the tournament, Williams will surge 9,407 places to No 592 while Mboko – who sits at No 9 in the singles rankings – has jumped 19 spots to a new career-high No 114 in the doubles.
Up next are Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarter-final, with the match scheduled for Thursday.
Should the pair reach the semi-final, they will be guaranteed to earn 195 points and that would see Williams move up another 200-odd places to about 394 in the Live Rankings while Mboko would jump to No 102.
For Mboko, it will be another opportunity to learn from the great and, of course, have fun.
“Of course, even knowing I could play with Serena with me, that was very – I’m so grateful, first of all,” the Canadian said. “I don’t play that much doubles, but I think sharing the court, I think I can learn a lot, even though we’re still competing.
“I just, if anything, I just had so much fun today. I feel like we complemented each other on the court very well.”
