Serena Williams to partner with Canada's Victoria Mboko in return to pro tennis

Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko confirmed that she will partner with legendary American player Serena Williams as she comes out of retirement at age 44.

Mboko, of Burlington, Ont., posted a picture of the pair to social media on Thursday morning with a caption that read "The queen is back. 👑 An honor to share the court with one of the greatest athletes of all time this week. Even more excited to play doubles together! Tennis is pretty special 🩷 🐐."

On Monday, the WTA Tour announced that Williams accepted a wild card invitation to play doubles at the upcoming Queen's Club grass-court tournament. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.

At the time, Williams said she didn't want to use the word "retiring" and instead declared that she was "evolving" away from tennis.

"Queen's Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter," Williams said in a statement. "Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career and I'm excited to be back competing on one of the sport's most iconic stages."

Speaking at the French Open last week, Mboko said of Williams: "I really look up to her. I mean, the fact that she even knows me is very exciting."

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