Serena Williams' Comeback at Queen's Club is Over after Injury to Doubles Partnerhttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5282981-serena-williams-comeback-queens-club-over-after-injury-doubles-partner
Serena Williams' Comeback at Queen's Club is Over after Injury to Doubles Partner
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Queen's Club Championships - Queen's Club, London, Britain - June 10, 2026 Serena Williams of the US during practice REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
Serena Williams' Comeback at Queen's Club is Over after Injury to Doubles Partner
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Queen's Club Championships - Queen's Club, London, Britain - June 10, 2026 Serena Williams of the US during practice REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
Serena Williams' much-hyped comeback to professional tennis at the Queen's Club lasted just one match.
The 44-year-old Williams' doubles partner, 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, was forced to withdraw from the draw on Thursday because of a knee injury she sustained in a singles match against Karolina Pliskova in the last 32 on Wednesday.
In her first professional match since the 2022 US Open, Williams teamed up with Mboko to beat third-seeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the grass-court event on Tuesday. They were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals.
Williams is set to play doubles at the Berlin Open in Germany next week. Her partner has yet to be announced, The Associated Press reported.
Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — including seven at Wimbledon — before stepping away from the game, saying at the time she was “evolving” away from tennis rather than "retiring."
Muchova, Noskova Put Friendship on Hold to Fight for Wimbledon Titlehttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5294474-muchova-noskova-put-friendship-hold-fight-wimbledon-title
Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic celebrates her victory against Naomi Osaka of Japan in their quarter-final women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Muchova, Noskova Put Friendship on Hold to Fight for Wimbledon Title
Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic celebrates her victory against Naomi Osaka of Japan in their quarter-final women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova will fight for the Wimbledon title on Saturday, but the Czech pair's bond will remain intact no matter who wins their first Grand Slam crown on Centre Court.
Muchova and Noskova have been friends for several years, spending time together off the court and playing doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
For a few hours at the All England Club this weekend, that friendship will be put on hold, with a life-changing moment within touching distance in their first Wimbledon final.
"We got to know each other a lot during Olympics a couple of years ago. We spent a lot of time together because we played doubles and almost got the medal," Noskova said.
"Karolina is such a great fighter, such an incredible player, but mainly she is such a great person. I'm glad I can play my first final against her."
Whoever holds aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish on Saturday, it has been a remarkable tournament for two players who have grown close despite being at far different stages of their careers.
Muchova made her WTA main draw debut nine years ago and has been on the cusp of making her breakthrough at the Grand Slams several times.
The 29-year-old has lost several semi-finals and was beaten in three sets by Iga Swiatek in her only previous major final at the 2023 French Open.
Muchova, who had lost in the first round on her previous four appearances at Wimbledon, is at last unimpeded after suffering a multitude of injuries in recent years.
In 2022, doctors told Muchova that it would be a good idea for her to quit tennis altogether, while in 2023 and 2024 right wrist surgery sidelined her for 10 months.
Linda Noskova of Czechia celebrates after winning her Women's Singles fourth round match against Madison Keys of the USA at the Wimbledon Championships in London, Britain, 06 July 2026. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN
Muchova takes "pills, sprays, eyedrops" to manage a grass allergy, but she is no longer adverse to playing on the surface.
"It's a very special moment. It's a great achievement," AFP quoted Muchova as saying after beating two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff to reach the Wimbledon final.
"This is one of the biggest tournaments that we have with all the history."
In contrast to Muchova's litany of near-misses, Noskova is enjoying a meteoric rise.
The 21-year-old only made her Wimbledon debut in 2022 and now she is in her maiden Grand Slam final after dispatching Marta Kostyuk in the last four.
Noskova may not be a star just yet, but she has won more matches on grass than any other player on the WTA Tour in the past two years.
In the lead up to Wimbledon, she won the Berlin Open for her first grass-court title.
"When I play my best I know I can play with the best players in the world and a have a great result, which is a final in a Grand Slam I guess!" she said.
The Czech duo's run to the final has extended their country's rich history at Wimbledon despite a population of just 11 million.
For the third time in the last four years, a Czech woman will be Wimbledon champion following triumphs for Barbora Krejcikova in 2024 and Marketa Vondrousova in 2023.
Noskova was inspired by the success of her childhood idol Petra Kvitova, who won at the All England Club in 2011 and 2014.
Jana Novotna memorably won Wimbledon in 1998 after losing two previous finals. while Karolina Pliskova reached the 2021 final and Hana Mandlikova twice finished as runner-up in the 1980s.
"We have great history of Czech tennis," Muchova said. "Myself, when I was younger, looking up to the girls who were older than I was, you can just see them doing so well. It gave me the belief that I can as well do it."
Noskova added: "It's a tradition at this point. I would say we are brought up in the same way, with our game on grass allowing us to play any style."
On the cusp of Wimbledon glory, for either Muchova and Noskova, the lawns of south-west London will be hallowed turf forever.
Girl Dies in France Celebrating World Cup Winhttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5294402-girl-dies-france-celebrating-world-cup-win
French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef
French fans celebrate their team on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match against Morocco, 10 July 2026. EPA/Fadi Yousef
A 17-year-old girl fell off a truck and died while celebrating France's World Cup quarter final win over Morocco, emergency services said Friday.
Celebrations erupted across France after the 2-0 win in the United States with hundreds dancing in the streets of Paris, watched by thousands of police on security duties.
The teenager was on a truck at Aulnoye-Aymeries, near the northern city of Maubeuge, when she "fell and was run over" by the vehicle and was declared dead at the scene, according to emergency services.
The driver of the truck has been detained, while another teenager who witnessed the fall was taken to hospital suffering from shock, authorities said.
Spain Aim for World Cup Date with France by Beating Belgiumhttps://english.aawsat.com/sports/5294401-spain-aim-world-cup-date-france-beating-belgium
DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP
Spain Aim for World Cup Date with France by Beating Belgium
DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 07: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain reacts during the training at Cotton Bowl on July 07, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images/AFP
European champions Spain are on a World Cup collision course with Kylian Mbappe's France if they can beat Belgium in the quarter-finals on Friday.
At the spectacular SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the Belgians face the daunting task of breaking through a Spanish defense that is yet to be breached in the tournament.
If Spain win, they will head to Texas next Tuesday for a mouth-watering semi-final against the French that many observers are already describing as the final before the final.
First though Spain need to find goals against a Belgium team who started the World Cup slowly but caught fire as the tournament has gone on.
The 4-1 demolition of the USA in the last round showed just how far the team coached by Rudi Garcia have come in the space of a few weeks.
Spain meanwhile have not displayed the attacking flair of France but they are playing the possession-based football that carried them to the country's only World Cup triumph, in South Africa in 2010.
Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, who turns 19 next week, is Spain's standout attacker but he arrived in the United States after suffering a late-season injury and has seemed a peripheral figure at times, scoring just once in five games.
Yamal, widely tipped to inherit the mantle of the world's greatest player once Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally leave the stage, could be due a goal.
"We know that the best version of him, the attacking Lamine, is something that we haven't quite seen yet in this World Cup. Not to the level that we're used to," said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente on Thursday.
In Yamal's absence, Mikel Oyarzabal has scored four times, including twice in the 3-0 defeat of an outclassed Austria in the last 32 at SoFi.
Spain have conceded just six shots on target in their five matches so far.
Belgium looked leaden and their stars ageing when they opened their group-stage account.
But they showed their mettle in an exciting defeat of Senegal in the last 32, when Youri Tielemans came to the fore to drag his team back from 2-0 down to a 3-2 victory after the introduction of Romelu Lukaku as an impact substitute.
The Belgians then demolished the USA in the last 16, in a game overshadowed by Donald Trump's intervention to get US striker Folarin Balogun's red card from the previous round cancelled.
That move fired up the Belgians, who gently mocked Trump with an on-field imitation of the president's Y.M.C.A. dance.
The World Cup is likely the last hurrah for the remainder of Belgium's so-called Golden Generation, including Lukaku, former Premier League player of the year Kevin De Bruyne and towering 'keeper Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid.
Belgium are comfortable with their status of underdogs.
Coach Garcia said on Thursday: "Everyone is already talking about us going home. But we think that we can do it.
"We think we can pull it off, and we're going to do everything we can to get to the semis."
On Thursday, France underlined their credentials by turning what was expected to be a tight quarter-final with Morocco into a clinical 2-0 win in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Moroccans were restricted to a handful of shots as Mbappe first had a penalty saved and then grabbed his eighth goal of this World Cup and 20th overall before Ousmane Dembele completed the job.
Mbappe was substituted later and applied an ice pack to his foot, but was quick to reassure France fans that it was nothing serious.
He will be relishing facing whichever defence is put in front of him next.
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