Victoria Mboko had started the grass-court season on a positive note. She formed a doubles pair alongside her childhood idol Serena Williams and also played a key role in their 7-6, 6-2 victory in the first round of the HSBC Championships. However, the Canadian would then pick up an injury on her left knee during her singles clash against Karolina Pliskova. As a result, she had to withdraw from the tournament and the grass swing as a whole. Feeling that she has let down Serena on her long return to tennis, Mboko has now issued an apology to the American.

“Thank you @serenawilliams for giving me this incredible opportunity to play alongside you,” she wrote on an Instagram post. “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.”

Sharing an update about her condition, Mboko revealed that she has suffered a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) tear. It is known to be one of most common knee injuries. While a moderate tear can take 4-6 weeks to fully heal, a severe tear can take up to 12 weeks.

“I wanted to provide a quick update given everything that has happened in the past 36 hours. Unfortunately, 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,” the post read.

Mboko had suffered a nasty fall at the Andy Murray arena when she was trailing Pliskova 2-6, 4-3. She twisted her knee while attempting to return a forehand and was barely able to move after the fall. The 19-year-old eventually limped off the court in tears, handing the victory to Pliskova.

She would soon go on to withdraw from the tournament. This meant that her and Serena’s second-round doubles clash against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund wouldn’t go ahead. Mboko’s withdrawal would also bring an abrupt end to Serena’s first-ever campaign at the Queen’s Club.

With Mboko having already announced her withdrawal from the grass swing, she has likely suffered a moderate ligament tear. The youngster is currently ranked No. 9 and can move out of the top 10 following the conclusion of Wimbledon. Though Mboko won’t be dropping a lot of points due to her withdrawal from Wimbledon as she had only made it to the second round last year, she can drop places if players around her ranking go on a run at the Grand Slam.

In her place, World No. 119, Darja Vidmanova, has been added to the main draw. This will be the 23-year-old’s maiden appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam. She had previously failed to make it past the qualifying rounds at the Ausralian and French Open.

Withdrawing from the SW19 would indeed have been quite tough for Mboko. This was her supposed to her first-ever appearance in the main draw of the tournament, but she will now have to wait for it until next year. Having gone through similar injuries in the past, Serena knows exactly how the Canadian must feel. Thus, the 44-year-old shared a heartfelt message for Mboko after her withdrawal from the HSBC Championships.

Serena Williams wishes for Victoria Mboko’s speedy recovery

“Some moments mean more than trophies,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “What a fun and memorable week at @hsbcchampionships. Thank you to everyone who made it so special. Wishing you a speedy recovery, @vickymboko. Can’t wait to see you back on court.”

With her grass swing reaching a sudden conclusion, Mboko will now be focusing on getting back in action as soon as the hard-court season begins in late July.

The 19-year-old will be aiming to participate at the Montreal Masters in August as not only is it her home event, but also because she is the defending champion. Missing the tournament in its entirety will result in her straight away losing 1000 points on the rankings.

It remains to be seen when Mboko will be able to make her return to the court and if she will be able to replicate her success from last season’s hard-court season.