Serena Williams wins in doubles in first match in a year

Serena Williams played in her first match since June 2021. Peter Van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

Serena Williams wins in doubles alongside Ons Jabeur in first match in a year

By Adam Stites | Last updated 6/21/22

Serena Williams made her return to the tennis court for the first time in nearly a year with a 2-6, 6-3 (13-11) victory Tuesday in a doubles match with partner Ons Jabeur.

Williams, 40, had been out of action since retiring during the first set of her first round match at Wimbledon on June 29, 2021. The injury was eventually revealed to be a torn hamstring and kept her sidelined for nearly a year.

Next week, Williams is set to make her singles return at Wimbledon. Her warmup is doubles competition alongside Jabeur at the 2022 Eastbourne International. After a slow start Tuesday, the duo rallied to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzková in the second set and in a tiebreaker to advance.

Well that was a whole lot of fun

@serenawilliams and @Ons_Jabeur clinch the win in a match tiebreak, 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 to move on in Eastbourne!#RothesayInternational pic.twitter.com/mHBn25btRD
— wta (@WTA) June 21, 2022

Jabeur, 27, moved up to become the No. 3-ranked WTA singles player earlier this week after winning the German Open final on Sunday.

The team of Williams and Jabeur will next face the team of Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Williams is second all-time in women's Grand Slam singles titles with 23. She and her sister, Venus Williams, are a perfect 14-0 as a team in Grand Slam doubles finals.

More must-reads: