Serena, Venus Williams withdraw from Wimbledon doubles

WIMBLEDON -- Serena Williams and Venus Williams have withdrawn from the doubles draw at Wimbledon, the former announced on Instagram. 

"I’m heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles," Serena wrote in the post. "Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could but unfortunately my knee just isn’t ready to compete."

The decision comes a four days after Serena tweaked her knee late in the first set against Maya Joint in her first singles match in nearly four years, which Joint won 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

The Williams sisters, who are six-time doubles champions at the All England Club and 14-time Grand Slam winners, on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, were scheduled to face Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in the first round Saturday.

Receiving a wild card, Serena and Venus were slated to play their first doubles match together since the 2022 US Open, the same tournament that Serena played her most recent singles match prior to Tuesday's first-round Wimbledon defeat. In the build-up to Wimbledon, Serena competed alongside Victoria Mboko in Queen's and Karolina Muchova in Berlin in her first matches back since returning to the sport. 

Serena has not said the next tournaments she plans to compete in, but in the post's caption, she hinted: "All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you." Venus, who lost in mixed doubles on Friday, is slated to play the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington and WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto, both as a wild card. 

Sierra and Osorio will now face the pair of Samantha Murray Sharan and Lanlana Tararudee, who replace the Williams' sisters on line 38 of the draw.