Mboko to miss Wimbledon, hopes to play doubles with Serena again

LONDON: Victoria Mboko says she will miss the rest of the grass court tennis season with a knee injury but hopes to resume her doubles partnership with US great Serena Williams.

The 19-year-old Canadian, ranked ninth in the world, said she suffered a medial collateral ligament injury in her opening singles match against Karolina Pliskova at the WTA tournament at Queen’s Club.

“Unfortunately, my fall on Wednesday caused an injury to the MCL on my left knee, which sadly means I will miss the remainder of the grass season,” Mboko wrote. “This unfortunately means Wimbledon too, a tournament I had been so looking forward to playing this year.”

The setback came after Mboko teamed up with 44-year-old Williams for a doubles victory that marked the US superstar’s eagerly anticipated return to competitive tennis after four years in retirement.

The two beat Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in straight sets, but Williams’s comeback was temporarily on hold after Mboko’s injury forced her out of the London tournament.

Serena out of Queen’s doubles after partner Mboko injured

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, is now gearing up for the Berlin Open, where she is reportedly set to play alongside Karolina Muchova.

In her post, Mboko thanked Williams for the “incredible opportunity to play alongside you”.

“I learnt so much from you and am so sorry our tournament came to an end prematurely, but I hope we can play together again soon and finish what we started,” she said.

Williams offered an encouraging reply.

“My heart,” she wrote. “My (diamond) You will be even more amazing when you are back.”