Serena Williams recently penned a loving message for Victoria Mboko after she shared her injury update after the fall at the HSBC Championships. Along with Williams, Sloane Stephens also shared a loving message for the 19-year-old, encouraging her for a speedy recovery.
During her second round at the singles match of the Queen’s Club against Karolina Pliskova, Mboko suffered a bad slip and fell. Immediately after the slip, the player was seen visibly in pain as she was on the ground holding her left knee. While she managed to walk to the bench by herself, after medical considerations, she was forced to retire midway through the match.
Her injury also affected Williams’ most anticipated comeback, as the accident brought an abrupt end to their doubles partnership and the American’s time at the tournament. Days after this unfortunate incident, Mboko shared the news of her withdrawal from the entire grass season, including Wimbledon, and penned a heartfelt note for Williams, thanking her for the opportunity to play alongside her.
“Hi everyone – I wanted to provide a quick update given everything that has happened in the past 36 hours. Unfortunaly, my fall on Wednesday caused an injury to the MCL on my left knee, which sadly means I will miss the remainder of the grass season. This unfortunately means Wimbledon too, a tournament I had been so looking forward to playing this year. Lastly, thank you @serenawilliams for giving me this incredible opportunity to play alongside you. I learnt so much from you and am so sorry our tournament came to an end prematurely, but I hope we can play together again soon and finish what we started :)❤️” wrote Mboko.
This caught the attention of Williams, who dropped a sweet note in the comment section that read:
“My heart. My 💎 You will be even more amazing when you are back.”
Along with the 44-year-old, Sloane Stephens also penned a sweet comment for her recovery that read:
“Speedy recovery babygirl❤️”
Victoria Mboko opened up about getting the HSBC Championships partnership offer from Serena Williams
Just before competing at the Queen’s Club, Victoria Mboko sat for a conversation with StanSportAU, where she revealed the story behind how she ended up being Serena Williams’ doubles partner for the tournament. Sharing the story, she revealed that she received a message from the American while she was in a Starbucks and said that it was a ‘pretty hard’ offer to not accept.
“Serena, she messaged me. I was in a Starbucks when she texted me and I kind of just looked at my phone for a little longer. Yeah, she just messaged me if I had a partner for Queens. And I was like, ‘No I don’t have anyone.’ She asked me if I wanted to play, so, it was a pretty hard offer to not accept. She’s been an idol of mine since I started tennis. Practicing with her so far has been great,” said Victoria Mboko.
Moboko and Williams went against Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the first round of the doubles tournament. They claimed a stunning victory, registering a 7-6(2)- 6-2 win. Following this match, the American made her feelings known about playing with Mboko in a media conversation.
“I had so much fun playing with Victoria. She was really able to hold up the team and play big on the big points. I could rely on her. We have never played together but it felt so natural,” said Serena Williams.
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