Serena Williams Aims for Doubles Return with Coco Gauff

Days before Serena Williams confirmed her return to tennis, Coco Gauff expressed enthusiasm when asked about the possibility at Roland-Garros.

“That would be really cool,” Gauff, 22, said. “I did say one of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her. Everybody’s been hearing rumors, so if they are true, I guess we’ll find out based on the rumors. We’ll see. But I think it would be good for the sport to have a legend back playing.”

Williams, 44, is not looking to play against Gauff in singles. Instead, she has a different ambition. She wants to pair up with Gauff in doubles.

“I would really love to play with Coco,” Williams stated after a match at the Berlin Tennis Open where she partnered with Karolina Muchova. “To be honest, she’s on my list of people I would love to play with. I should have done better research on who was available, but Karolina is a great player. She’s someone I love to watch.”

Williams continued, emphasizing her admiration for Gauff.

“I love watching Coco as well. Now that I know that—and she’s so focused on singles nowadays—I suppose I should have asked earlier. I didn’t know,” she added.

Williams participated in her first professional tennis match since the 2022 US Open when she and Victoria Mboko, 19, succeeded in a Round of 16 game of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club on June 9, London. Their progress was halted due to Mboko’s knee injury.

As a result, Williams shifted focus to Berlin. It was revealed this week that she will join forces with her sister Venus Williams to play doubles at Wimbledon.

Serena Williams, a holder of 23 Grand Slam singles titles—the most by any woman in the Open Era—and Venus have secured 14 doubles titles together, with six victories at Wimbledon.