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Serena Williams insists she is not putting pressure on herself to win the title ahead of her shock return to professional tennis.
The 44-year-old, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, will play her first competitive match in four years at Queen’s Club this week when she partners 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in the women’s doubles.
Williams’ final match at the US Open in 2022 seemingly brought down the curtain on a glittering career, but she made a “pretty 11th-hour commitment” to play at the HSBC Championship in London and said her comeback was not about adding to her trophy collection.
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Shot of Serena Williams’ first practice session at Queen’s Club before returning to the WTA Tour.
“I don’t need to win,” she said.
“I’ve won more than most people’s lives, so it’s not that important to me, and it’s important that I remind myself of that, because I have nothing to prove.
“I have nothing to lose, and everything here is only to gain.”
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With Serena Williams announcing her return to tennis, we look back at her last professional match which was a tough one to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open.
Speaking after he and Mboko trained on the grass at Queen’s Club on Sunday, he added: “This whole journey has been like, I’m not putting any pressure on myself.
“For me right now, it’s really a lot of elements. It’s really my kids watching me play. Olympia is a little bigger, Adira is a little smaller.
“An athlete is the best thing you can be at the top and to still be able to do that, maybe for the last time, is kind of cool and exciting.”
Serena Williams spoke to reporters on Sunday afternoon
Trying to justify the return, he added: “It’s summer, the kids aren’t in school, so it’s a good time to go out there, have fun and see what happens.”
Williams has added the Berlin Tennis Open to her comeback schedule ahead of a possible wildcard at Wimbledon later this month.
He has also entered the doubles tournament in the German capital, but is ruling out a return to singles action after practicing more matches.
“I can’t say right now,” she said.
“I think if I want to play singles, I’ll probably have to train a little bit more, and we’ll see if I can get there, and if not, it’s not my journey right now.”
Williams trained with Mboko ahead of their opening matches against Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliff this weekend.
Serena Williams and Canada’s Victoria Mboko warm up at the Queen’s Club on Sunday
Mboko is confident his iconic partner is fit enough to play at a high level this week.
He said: “He’s hitting great. He’s got such clean ball striking, he’ll probably take a few years off, and when he steps on the court he’ll probably find that rhythm again and find his timing.
“So I think it’s really a God-given gift that he has.
“I personally think he’s ready to go. I’m hitting with him, he’s hitting pretty big and he’s really fit, so we’ll see.”
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