Williams Sisters Cancel Wimbledon Doubles Bid Due to Knee Injury

Serena and Venus Williams will not get to share Centre Court one more time. On Saturday, July 4, 2026, Serena announced on Instagram that she and her sister were withdrawing from the Wimbledon doubles draw, ending a highly anticipated reunion before it could begin.

Why the Williams Sisters Cancel Wimbledon Doubles Plans

The decision comes down to Serena’s knee. She picked up the injury during her first-round singles match against Australia’s Maya Joint on Tuesday, June 30 — her first competitive singles match in nearly four years. Joint won the marathon three-setter 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, but the bigger story was what happened to Serena physically along the way: she tweaked her knee late in the first set and it swelled significantly afterward.

In her announcement, Serena shared images of her heavily taped knee along with photos of fluid drained from the joint. She wrote that she was “heartbroken” to pull out, adding that the chance to play alongside Venus again “meant the world” to her, but that despite every effort, her knee simply wasn’t ready.

Wimbledon organizers had tried to help. The sisters were originally slated to play their first-round doubles match on Thursday, then Friday, before it was ultimately pushed to Saturday to give Serena extra recovery time. Tournament director Jamie Baker acknowledged the extra scheduling flexibility was intended to give her a shot at taking the court. In the end, it wasn’t enough.

What This Means for the Williams Sisters’ Wimbledon Legacy

Serena and Venus are six-time Wimbledon doubles champions and 14-time Grand Slam doubles winners as a pair, with a partnership dating back to their first All England Club title in 2000. This year’s doubles wild card was meant to be their first match together since the 2022 US Open — also the site of Serena’s previous competitive singles appearance before this comeback.

They were set to face Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in the first round. With the withdrawal, that matchup will no longer happen, and Serena’s 2026 Wimbledon run officially closes with her singles loss to Joint.

Venus, 46, isn’t done for the season. She lost in mixed doubles on Friday but is still expected to play the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open in Washington and the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto, both on wild cards.

What’s Next for Serena Williams

Serena, 44, hasn’t confirmed her next tournament, but she dropped a hint in her withdrawal post: “All I can say is stay tuned to a city near you.” That phrasing has fueled speculation about a possible appearance during the US hardcourt swing later this summer.

In the buildup to Wimbledon, Serena played tune-up matches alongside Victoria Mboko at Queen’s and Karolina Muchova in Berlin, part of a broader comeback that has been closely watched across the tennis world. Whether her knee heals in time for another appearance this season remains to be seen.