Serena Williams’ biggest issue identified ahead of tennis return at Queen’s
Serena Williams is set for a sensational return to tennis at Queen’s, where she will play in the doubles draw, but how will she fare upon her return?
Williams has not played competitive tennis since the 2022 US Open, when she was defeated in the third round of the singles by Ajla Tomljanovic.
She will play alongside Victoria Mboko at Queen’s, with potentially more grass court appearances to come if reports are to be believed.
Williams was one of the most dominant women’s players of her generation, but the game has certainly changed since she hung up her racket in 2022.
The American icon has one key problem to try to overcome when she returns to the sport at Queen’s, according to former tennis players turned commentators Chanda Rubin and Jimmy Arias.
The American pair are worried about Williams’ movement upon her return, particularly on grass.
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On The Tennis Channel, Rubin revealed: “I think just the movement is always kind of the difficult part, especially when you’ve been away for quite a while and on grass. I think that’s going to be the tricky part.
“As good as Serena is on grass, as second nature the surface has been to her, the movement can still be a bit tricky when you haven’t played on it for a while. When you haven’t played any real-life matches for a while.”
However, Rubin believes Williams still has plenty of dangerous weapons that could help her in a very competitive WTA Tour in 2026.
“She’s such a terrific athlete and the serve is such a huge weapon,” she added. “Some of that, I think she’ll fall back into. So I’m kind of looking at both sides of the coin. How’s the movement? But how does she fall back into the things that have been staples in her game?”
Arias mirrored Rubin’s views, but is still confident Williams can be competitive when she plays alongside Mboko in London.
“The game keeps getting faster and faster. So the four years she’s been gone, she’s going to come back and it’s going to be a little faster than she remembers,” said the former World No. 5.
“There’s a reasonable chance she’s not moving quite as well at 44 as she was moving four years ago when she last played. It’s not going to be easy for her, but what Chanda said is absolutely true.
“Her serve, if she still has the same serve, it makes it very difficult for everybody that she’s playing against: the serve and return. She was always ahead against everyone. She played off the first ball, better serve, and a very aggressive return. Those two things always had the edge for her.”
Queen’s is set to begin on June 8th, so it won’t be long before we find out how Williams fares on the grass after four years away.
