'Heartbroken' Serena Williams pulls out of Wimbledon doubles due to knee injury

[p]Serena announced the news on social media alongside a ‌video of herself limping with strapping on her right leg ‌and pictures of large syringes of fluid drained from her knee.[/p][p][b]"I'm ‌heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles. Coming back to ‌compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside @[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-venus/M7dojKaa/"]venuswilliams[/a] once more meant the world to me,"[/b] the 44-year-old said on Instagram.[/p][p][b]"I ‌did everything I could, but unfortunately my ⁠knee just isn't ready to ‌compete.[/b][/p][p][b]"The photo of the syringes is the fluid they drained from my ​knee after my singles match - yikes! The good news is that my knee shouldn't swell or collect that ​much fluid again.[/b][/p][p][b]"The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I wasn't able to be ready for doubles."[/b][/p][p]The American's highly ‌anticipated return to Grand Slam tennis ⁠after four years ‌away ended in disappointment after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/joint-m-AqLslEIk/williams-s-ttsu68nH/?mid=00707pEN"]a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 ​defeat[/a] by Australian youngster [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/joint-maya/AqLslEIk/"]Maya Joint[/a] on Tuesday.[/p][embed guid="b012ac07-b0bc-4e1f-a894-d66f83d73fe7" url="https://x.com/TheTennisLetter/status/2073419102077759652" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Williams sisters, who have six doubles ​titles at the All England Club, received a wildcard and were drawn [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/osorio-serrano-m-c-rysUUciD/sierra-s-E5xrmfn5/?mid=INhHuzFL"]to play [/a][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sierra-solana/E5xrmfn5/"]Solana ⁠Sierra[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osorio-serrano-maria-camila/rysUUciD/"]Camila ​Osorio[/a] in the opening round this week.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-serena/ttsu68nH/"]Serena[/a] said after her defeat by Joint she had "tweaked" her right knee at the end of the first ‌set but would do everything to be ready for action again.[/p][p][b]"I'm especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to recover,"[/b] Serena added.[/p][p][b]"Thank you to the fans for your incredible support and for making this comeback so meaningful… All I can say is stay tuned to ‌a city near you..."[/b][/p][p]Serena partnered Canadian teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mboko-victoria/AqVez8TJ/"]Victoria ​Mboko[/a] at the WTA event at Queen's ‌Club last month, but the pair's campaign was cut short after Mboko's knee injury in singles action.[/p][p]Serena then paired up with Czech [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muchova-karolina/Or4Qa1ye/"]Karolina Muchova[/a] in the Berlin Open, but ⁠the duo went ⁠down in their first ‌match.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-doubles/wimbledon/"]Follow the women's doubles at Wimbledon here.[/a][/b][/p]