LONDON — Canada’s Victoria Mboko withdrew from her first-round match at the HSBC Championships on Wednesday after appearing to sustain an injury during the second set.
Mboko, seeded third at The Queen’s Club in West London, was trailing former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova of Czechia 6-2, 3-4, when she fell at the back of the court.
The 19-year-old from Burlington, Ont., took a medical timeout, but was unable to continue.
It was Mboko’s first singles match on grass this season.
The injury puts in doubt Mboko’s participation for the rest of the short grass season, including her doubles partnership at Queen’s Club with tennis legend Serena Williams.
The 44-year-old Williams made her return to competitive tennis after nearly four years on Tuesday, when she teamed with Mboko for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States.
Williams and Mboko were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals Thursday at the WTA 500 event.
Earlier, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani continued their run of good form with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova and Japan’s Miyu Kato.
Dabrowski and Stefani are coming off a clay season that saw them win the Strasbourg International and advance to the semifinals of the French Open.
The second seeds will face Americans McCartney Kessler and Iva Jovic in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.
The Canadian Press
