Serena Williams' comeback at the Queen's Club is over after injury to doubles partner

LONDON (AP) — Serena Williams' much-hyped comeback to professional tennis at the Queen's Club lasted just one match.

The 44-year-old Williams' doubles partner, 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the draw on Thursday because of a knee injury she sustained in a singles match against Karolina Pliskova in the last 16 on Wednesday.

In her first professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open, Williams teamed up with Mboko to beat third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the grass-court event on Tuesday. They were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals.

Williams is set to play doubles at the Berlin Open in Germany next week. Her partner has yet to be announced, though British newspaper The Times of London reported it was Karolina Muchova.

Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before stepping away from the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than "retiring."

This story has been corrected to say Mboko was injured in the last 16 of the singles, not the last 32

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Serena Williams of the United States, celebrates winning a point as she and playing partner Victoria Mboko of Canada play against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during their first round doubles match at the Queen's Club tennis championships in London, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Serena Williams of the United States, celebrates with playing partner Victoria Mboko of Canada after defeating Nicole Melichar-Martinez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during their first round doubles match at the Queen's Club tennis championships in London, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Serena Williams of the United States, bottom right, serves as she and playing partner Victoria Mboko of Canada play against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during their first round doubles match at the Queen's Club tennis championships in London, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Serena Williams of the United States, right, hits a return as she and playing partner Victoria Mboko of Canada play against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand during their first round doubles match at the Queen's Club tennis championships in London, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

United States' Serena Williams during a practice session on day three of the Queen's Club tennis championships in London, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Amid players' calls for a bigger share of revenues, Wimbledon on Thursday announced 20% increases in total prize money and for the singles champions, who will earn 3.6 million pounds ($4.8 million) at the grass-court Grand Slam next month.

The total prize money including player per diems will be 64.2 million pounds ($85.8 million), described as “by far” the biggest annual increase in the tournament's history.

“I would hope the players would welcome it. It’s a significant amount of money,” All England Club chair Deborah Jevans said at a press conference.

“We’ve demonstrated that we’ve looked at every round, including qualifying. My hope is that the players do recognize what a significant increase that this is."

Players have long been calling for a greater share of revenues from the four Grand Slams and recently began taking steps toward collective action.

For this year’s Wimbledon, players advocated for total prize money of 71 million pounds ($95 million), Jevans said, citing her recent talks in Paris with Larry Scott, the former WTA CEO who has been advising the players.

Ahead of the French Open, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said players should at some point organize a boycott if their demands aren’t met. Men's No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff and others also spoke out.

Then, in pre-tournament news conferences at Roland Garros, top-10 players limited their sessions with journalists to 15 minutes in symbolic protest of their share of the tournament revenues.

Just over a year ago, 20 leading players signed a letter to the heads of the four Grand Slams seeking more prize money and a greater voice in decision making.

Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tournament, begins June 29. Iga Swiatek is the women's defending champion. Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in last year's men's final and the Spaniard will miss the event because of a wrist injury.

First-round prize money this year will be 80,000 pounds ($107,000), which is a 21% increase over 2024, and the qualifying rounds will see a total increase of 25%.

The runner-up in the men's and women's singles will get 1.8 million pounds ($2.4 million) each. That's an 18% increase over last year.

Increasing prize money is a balancing act because 90% of any distributable financial surplus from Wimbledon goes to the Lawn Tennis Association, which is Britain’s governing body for tennis and padel.

The LTA works to increase participation in the sport, renovate courts, support elite player development, and run grass-court tournaments in the buildup to Wimbledon.

For calendar year 2025, the LTA reported a 4% decrease in the Wimbledon surplus (48.6 million pounds or $65 million) compared to 2024, though the LTA’s total revenue was up 2% — in part, it said, because of the introduction of a women’s tour event at Queen’s Club.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Italy's Jannik Sinner returns to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus serves to Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. during a women's singles semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)