Legendary tennis player Serena Williams confirmed the formation of a new partnership with Czech Karolina Muchova for the Berlin Open, which will take place next week. The move marks another significant step in his long-awaited return to competition on the professional circuit.

At 44 years old and holder of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams began her return to the courts a few days ago, at the Queen’s tournament. After almost four years away from the sport, she had teamed up with Victoria Mboko for the women’s doubles competition, in one of the most talked-about news stories in recent tennis.

The pair of Williams and Mboko made a promising start at Queen’s, overcoming third favorites Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in straight sets. However, they were forced to withdraw from the quarter-finals due to a serious fall suffered by Mboko during their singles match.

Karolina Muchova expresses excitement about partnership opportunity

The new partner, Karolina Muchova, 29, has already reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon twice in singles and is currently ranked 10th in the WTA rankings. Her experience at the highest level of tennis will be part of Williams’ strategy.

“I’m really excited about this. It’s not every day that such an incredible athlete, not just in tennis, but in sport in general, invites you to play. I hope it’s fun,” said Muchova at a press conference held in Berlin on Saturday.

Victoria Mboko out of grass season after knee injury

Victoria Mboko, who abandoned her clash against Karolina Pliskova, was diagnosed with an injury to the medial collateral ligament in her left knee and is sidelined for the remainder of the grass season, which includes the important Wimbledon contest. The young athlete’s absence is a severe blow to her aspirations.

“Unfortunately, my fall on Wednesday caused an injury to the MCL in my left knee,” Mboko said. “I was looking forward to playing [Wimbledon] this year.”

Addressing Williams about their brief partnership, the tennis player added: “I learned a lot from you and I’m sorry our tournament ended prematurely, but I hope we can play together again soon and finish what we started.”