Serena Williams forced to withdraw from Wimbledon doubles return with sister Venus

The American recently made her return to professional singles at SW19, narrowly losing to Australian Maya Joint in a hard-fought three-set match.

Williams had been expected to partner Venus in the women's doubles, with the legendary sisters having previously won seven Wimbledon doubles titles together at the All England Club.

However, she has been forced to withdraw from the event after sustaining a knee injury during her singles match against Joint.

Williams took to Instagram to announce the heartbreaking news.

"I'm heartbroken to have to withdraw from doubles," she captioned.

"Coming back to compete again has been a gift, and the opportunity to play alongside Venus Williams once more meant the world to me. I did everything I could to be ready, but unfortunately my knee just isn't ready to compete.

"I'm especially grateful to tournament director, Jamie Baker, and the entire tournament team for giving me every opportunity to play here. 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 youâ¦

"The photo of the syringes shows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match, yikes! The good news is my knee shouldn't swell or collect that much fluid again. The bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn't able to get it ready for doubles."

Williams' next tournament is yet to be confirmed, though she is widely expected to receive wildcard entries into the upcoming events in Cincinnati and New York as she continues her return to the WTA Tour.

The sisters last competed together at the 2022 US Open, where they were beaten 7-6(5), 6-4 in the first round by Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova. That tournament marked the beginning of Serena's much-publicised â˜evolution' away from professional tennis, before she announced her return earlier this season.

Before this year's Wimbledon, Williams also enjoyed a successful return to doubles at Queen's Club Championships, where she partnered Victoria Mboko to upset third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 in the opening round.

The pair were forced to withdraw before their second-round match after Mboko suffered an injury during her singles campaign, bringing their promising run to an early end.

Williams then teamed up with Karolína Muchova at the Berlin Open. However, the duo were defeated 6-4, 6-4 in the first round by Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos, leaving Wimbledon as their next planned appearance together before Williams' latest injury setback.