Serena Williams and Karolina Muchova Fall in Berlin Doubles

By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty

Sequels seldom exceed the originals.

The second match of Serena Williams’ comeback tour began with welcome news: Wimbledon awarded doubles wild cards to 46-year-old Venus Williams (she’s 46 tomorrow, but we favor extended celebrations) and 44-year-old Serena Williams for their first SW19 appearance together since they won a sixth Wimbledon doubles crown in 2016.

 The former world No. 1 Serena Williams and partner Karolina Muchova took the court to rousing reception from Berlin fans today.

Then doubles specialists Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos closed the curtain with a 6-4, 6-4 sweep of Muchova and Williams in the Berlin Tennis Open opener.

Last Tuesday, the icon was inspired playing her first pro match in three years and nine months on London’s lawn.

Williams and 19-year-old partner Victoria Mboko defeated third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2 in their Queen’s Club opening match. That dynamic partnership ended after Mboko suffered a knee injury in her singles match against former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova and was forced to retire from Queen’s Club and withdraw from Wimbledon.

A few immediate observations from today’s match:

*The four-time Olympic gold medal champion’s serve wasn’t quite as imposing today as it was in her comeback match alongside Victoria Mboko last week. Serena surrendered the first break in the seventh game today, didn’t quite break the slice serve as sharply on the deuce side, but got stronger as the set progressed holding for 3-4 with Muchova playing I-formation at net.

*Traditionally, Serena returns from the deuce court when partnering sister Venus. She played the deuce return last week with Mboko, who owns a crackling two-handed backhand, thriving from the ad court. Today, Williams returned from the ad side, saw somer of her backhand crosses intercepted by a poaching Olmos and flattened a few forehand returns into net.

*Reigning US Open doubles champion Routliffe was facing Williams for the second time in a week and this time the former doubles world No. 1 was both more relaxed and more assertive at net snapping off several smashes.

*For stretches of this 90-minute match, the 33-year-old Olmos was the most impactful player on the court. Showing quick hands and fearless poaching skills, Olmos tagged Serena twice with aggressive volleys—apologizing both in the moment and in the handshake at net—and her savvy court sense and positioning were keys today.

*As in her Queen’s Club comeback, Serena was playing Serena tennis. That is, trying to serve big, driving groundstrokes with authority and detonating the drive volley with damaging intent. At 44, Serena still owns point-ending power. More importantly, she’s all in on imposing it too. One of her most underrated weapons, IMO, is the sharp-angled backhand crosscourt where she takes pace off the ball and can freeze opponents with the angle. Seeing Olmos and Routliffe repeatedly pinch the middle poaching and controlling the center, it would have been clever to see Williams try to play some shorter angles, expand the width of the court and in turn perhaps open up the middle for those jolting drive volleys. Still, whether she’s at the baseline or at net, serving or returning, Williams has the killer instinct and the kill shots to terminate points and it’s exciting to see that again.  

*Today’s defeat denies the world a doubles clash between Serena Williams, one of the fastest servers in WTA history, and Sara Errani, one of the slowest servers in WTA history, who sometimes resorts to the underarm serve. Olmos and Routliffe will play third seeds Sara Errani and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in the quarterfinals.

Serving at 3-All, Williams was handcuffed by a deep Olmos return to face a break point. When Williams sailed a backhand long, Olmos and Routliffe scored the first break for 4-3.

When it comes to sheer speed, Olmos’ serve was the softest on the court today. Yet, the 33-year-old Mexican moved it around the box effectively backing up the break with a solid hold for 5-3.

Playing just their second doubles event of the season—and first match together—Muchova and Williams showed some indecision on a drive down the middle. Both paused in deference to the other before Williams poked an off-balance forehand wide as Routliffe went up 40-0 on serve.

The quick Olmos poached and hit a high backhand volley to close the 40-minute opener on Routliffe’s serve.

Though Muchova is one of the best volleyers among singles stars on the WTA Tour, she sometimes looked reluctant to venture too far forward on pivotal points today. Olmos snapped a volley at Muchova then the Czech sent a backhand long to drop serve in the fifth game of the second set.

Williams and Muchova weren’t as consistent on return and paid the price. After two missed returns, Routliffe slashed a serve down the T extending the lead to 6-4, 4-2.

The former world No. 1 in singles and doubles’ best stretch of play came in the seventh and eighth games. Serving with Muchova crouching down in I-formation, Williams carved a brilliant angled forehand volley winner as she held for 3-4.

Threatening the USC grad Olmos’ serve, Williams tomahawked a smash right at Routliffe, who turned her back in self-preservation mode. That play put Muchova and Williams up 15-30, but Serena slapped a forehand return into bottom of the next and Muchova sailed a forehand on the deciding point as Olmos stood tall for 5-3.

Though the wild cards reach 15-30 on Routliffe’s serve—two points from leveling—Olmos calmly cut off a return with an angled volley winner, Routliffe ripped an ace wide for match point then Olmos slammed one final smash to end a solid 90-minute win.

If you’ve watched Serena Williams play throughout her career, then you know she rarely goes to the towel during games. In extremely hot or humid conditions, she will often wipe sweat off her racquet hand on the bottom of her skirt, yet rarely will she actually go to the towel as many male players do, including Novak, Rafa and Big Foe to name a few.

Interestingly, as Serena stopped to sign autographs before departing court today, she made sure to pick up the tournament towel and drape it over her left shoulder like a cape on a superhero.

Maybe it’s the mom inside knowing towels are vital tools with two young kids running around.

Maybe it’s the champion within knowing there’s a lot more sweat and work to come to get ready for Wimbledon.