The 2026 French Open delivered plenty of drama, but the real surprise came from Serena Williams’ wildcard entry into the sport’s spotlight. The 23-time Grand Slam champion accepted a women’s doubles wildcard at the Queen’s Club Championships, where she’ll partner world No. 9 Victoria Mboko. She’s making her first competitive appearance in four years, which is exciting on its own, right? However, the comeback has divided fans, and former American No. 1 Andy Roddick wants them to see the brighter side.

“Everyone, like people, has these weird opinions about this. Who’s losing because she’s back in tennis?. Is the Is Queens Club losing? No. Is and don’t [ __ ] at me with like the person who’s 130 who would have gotten into doubles if she didn’t get the Wild Card. Oh my god. Kill”, Roddick stated in a passionate response to the critiques of Serena on the latest episode of his ‘Served’ podcast.

“This is fantastic. This is a dream. Are you kidding me? How do we maintain attention after Roland Garros? I got one. Yeah. Um fantastic. I hope it goes well. I hope she plays singles at Wimbledon. Put it in my veins. I will. I cannot wait. Even better, I’m going to be there. If I’m not calling that match, if I’m not involved, I am I want to see it. I want to see the spectacle. I want to see the circus. I want to see it all. No one can do it like Serena Williams,” he added.

While official global TV totals for Roland-Garros 2026 are still pouring in, the tournament reportedly crushed attendance records. More than 727,000 fans packed the Paris grounds to shatter the 2025 record of 687,249 and draw the largest crowd the event has ever seen. The surge started before the main draw when 138,000 spectators filled the courts during qualifying and Opening Week.

Television matched that energy across Europe. Over 2 million people watched Alexander Zverev become the first German men’s Grand Slam winner since Boris Becker 30 years ago, and the 2026 men’s final peaked at 2.9 million on Eurosport. Roland-Garros became Eurosport Germany’s most-watched tournament ever, up 49% from 2025. Poland tuned in for qualifier Maja Chwalińska’s fairy-tale ride to the women’s final, which peaked at 3.5 million viewers across Eurosport and TVN and grabbed almost 44% of the audience.

Serena Williams’ doubles return has not won every fan, though wildcards remain a tournament’s right to award. The American icon still ranks as one of the sport’s biggest crowd-pullers, and her last match at the 2022 US Open proved that point. Arthur Ashe Stadium sold out completely, and the match shattered viewership records with an average of 4.8 million viewers across prime networks. Those numbers stay unheard of for a third-round match.

So, from a commercial perspective, granting one to Williams on her return to tennis after four years was a no-brainer at the Queen’s Club. Their decision was completely justified as the Andy Murray Arena, which had almost 9000 seats, was completely sold out.

Only once has the Andy Murray Arena been as full for a doubles match: in 2019, when the man after whom the venue is named made a comeback, playing doubles with Feliciano Lopez and winning the title. As for her singles return, it is not only Roddick but a consensus in the tennis world that the GOAT might make her singles return as well. However, in her press conference at Queens, Williams did not definitively commit to making her singles return, citing inadequate training.

“For singles? I can’t say yeah, I can’t say no, I would probably need to train more,” she stated during a press conference earlier this week. “That’s not my journey now. I don’t need to win, I’ve won more than most people in their whole lives. For me, it’s not important to me, I have to remind myself of that, I don’t have anything to lose. Everything here is to gain.”

Even though people are waiting with bated breath for Serena to make her comeback in singles, her doubles comeback was nothing short of spectacular.

Serena Williams still has what it takes

Form is temporary, but class is permanent is an adage often used in sport, and one that was on full display at the Queen’s Club as Serena Williams made her comeback. Alongside World No.9, Victoria Mboko, Williams made a grand entry on the court amongst a raucous crowd, including her family, who were in the stands.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion had only one prerogative when deciding to come back: “I’ve had enough pressure. It’s really about my kids getting to see me play.” And she proved that she’s in it to show her girls just who she is.

On the court, the old Serena serve was back in action as she sent down serves at an excess of 100mph, one of which was clocked at 120mph. They were playing the third-seeded pair of Nicole-Melichar Martinez and Erin Routliffe, who gave a tough fight in the first set, taking it to a tiebreak, even though Williams and Mboko started with a 3-0 lead.

However, once the American-Canadian duo won the tiebreak, it was smooth sailing after that, as they clinched a straightforward 6-2 set, marking Serena’s return with a win. The high-profile comeback story will continue at Queens, as Serena will return to the court with Mboko to face Laura Siegemund and Leylah Fernandez on June 11.