Victoria Mboko misses Wimbledon after knee injury at Queen’s; Darja Vidmanova enters the main draw
Canadian tennis player Victoria Mboko, currently the world No. 9 according to her WTA profile, will not compete at Wimbledon in 2026 after a left knee injury she sustained at the grass-court HSBC Championships tournament at London’s Queen’s Club. On June 12, the WTA announced that Mboko was forced to withdraw from the Wimbledon main draw, with her place being taken by Czech player Darja Vidmanova. The injury occurred in a second-round singles match against Karolina Pliškova, in which the 19-year-old Canadian slipped on the grass and then had to retire from the match. According to the WTA announcement, Mboko was trailing 6-2, 4-3 at the time of her retirement, while Pliškova thereby advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament. No more detailed medical diagnosis or expected duration of recovery has been published, so for now it has only been officially confirmed that it is a left knee injury.
Mboko’s withdrawal is an important blow to the women’s part of the Wimbledon draw because she is one of the fastest-rising players on the WTA Tour and a tennis player who entered the world’s Top 10 this season. According to WTA data, Mboko had a record of 24 wins and nine losses in 2026 up to the moment of the injury, and in singles she held the best ranking of her career, ninth place. Wimbledon was supposed to be her second appearance in the main draw of the London Grand Slam, after she reached the first round there in 2025 as a lucky loser and was stopped in the second. The absence comes at a sensitive part of the season because the grass-court portion of the calendar is short, and Wimbledon begins as early as June 29. According to the official schedule of the All England Club, the tournament will be played in 2026 until July 12, which leaves Mboko without enough time for a competitive return.
A fall on grass stopped her singles and doubles appearances
According to the WTA report from the match at Queen’s Club, Mboko fell against Karolina Pliškova in the closing stage of the second set, after which she was no longer able to continue the match. Pliškova, a former world No. 1 and a tennis player with great experience on grass, took the lead by winning the first set 6-2, while Mboko was trying to restore balance in the second before the fall happened. The WTA stated that Pliškova won 83 percent of points after her first serve in the first set in that match, and she finished it with 18 winners and 16 unforced errors. Such a statistical framework shows that the Czech player had control over a large part of the duel even before the retirement, but the outcome remained marked by her opponent’s injury. After the retirement, Pliškova advanced to the quarterfinals, while Mboko had to end both her singles and doubles appearances that same week.
The injury had a particular impact on the doubles tournament, because Mboko was playing at Queen’s with Serena Williams, one of the most successful tennis players in history. According to a WTA announcement from June 11, Mboko and Williams withdrew from the doubles draw after it became clear that the Canadian could not continue the tournament. Their appearance had already attracted major attention because Williams played her first professional match at Queen’s since the 2022 US Open. The pair Mboko/Williams defeated the third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in the first round by a score of 7-6(2), 6-2. They were supposed to play the quarterfinal against Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund, but that duel was canceled, so Fernandez and Siegemund advanced without a contest.
Serena’s return lasted only one match
Serena Williams’s return was one of the main stories of the tournament at Queen’s Club, and the WTA announced it as her first appearance at professional level in almost four years. Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, had last played before that at the 2022 US Open, after which she withdrew from the competitive rhythm. Her entry into the doubles draw with Mboko was conceived as the beginning of a new chapter, but her partner’s injury quickly interrupted their joint appearance. After their only played match, the WTA emphasized that Mboko and Williams had secured the quarterfinal against the third seeds with confident play in the second set and a solid tie-break in the first. After the withdrawal, Williams posted a message of support for Mboko, and the WTA reported that the American should continue her comeback at the tournament in Berlin next week.
The sporting significance of that short appearance was greater than one doubles result. Williams competed at Queen’s as part of a WTA 500 tournament played on grass and serving as one of the preparations for Wimbledon. The WTA described the tournament as the return of the women’s competition to Queen’s Club on an annual basis after more than half a century, which gave the event additional symbolic weight. In that context, the combination of the young Canadian tennis player and the legendary American became one of the most followed stories of the early grass-court part of the season. Still, Mboko’s injury redirected attention from Williams’s return to the question of the readiness and health condition of one of the most promising players on the WTA Tour. In professional tennis, such interruptions are especially sensitive in the weeks before Grand Slam tournaments, because they affect the draw, preparation, and the wider schedule of the players.
Wimbledon remains without one of the standard-bearers of the new generation
For Mboko, Wimbledon was supposed to be an important confirmation of the progress achieved during previous seasons. According to her WTA profile, the Canadian player was born in 2006, and in 2026 she has already reached ninth place in the singles rankings. In its report on her withdrawal, the WTA recalled that Mboko lost last year in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying to Priscilla Hon, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser. There she defeated Magdalena Frech and reached the second round, where she was stopped by Hailey Baptiste. That result was modest compared with her later rise in the rankings, but it marked her first more serious trace on the Wimbledon grass.
This season, expectations were significantly higher because Mboko was supposed to arrive at Wimbledon as a player from the Top 10 group. Such status changes her position in the draw, public expectations, and the way opponents prepare for a match. Grass often rewards players who win points quickly, move well and serve reliably, but at the same time it requires adjustment to a lower bounce and more slippery movement in the first days of the tournament. It was precisely the fall at Queen’s that served as a reminder of how important physical security on grass is, especially in the period when players switch from different surfaces to very specific conditions. For Mboko, the most important question now is recovery, while the sporting consequences of missing Wimbledon will depend both on the duration of the break and on the further schedule of the WTA season.
Darja Vidmanova gets a chance for a Grand Slam debut
With Darja Vidmanova’s entry into the main draw of Wimbledon, the personal trajectory of the 23-year-old Czech tennis player also changes. The WTA announced that Vidmanova is taking Mboko’s place and will thereby make her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. According to her WTA profile, Vidmanova is currently the world No. 119, while her best career ranking was No. 101, reached in 2026. In its report, the WTA emphasized that Vidmanova played college tennis for the University of Georgia and that in 2025 she won the NCAA title in singles and in doubles. She achieved her first victory at WTA Tour level last year in Guadalajara, and this year she also reached her first final at WTA 125 level in Oeiras.
Vidmanova has thus moved from qualifying or alternate status to a place in the main draw of the oldest Grand Slam tournament. Such changes are not unusual in the weeks before major tournaments because injuries, fatigue and late decisions about participation often open space for players who were first below the cut. For the Czech tennis player, the opportunity is a major sporting one, but also a demanding one, because a Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon brings pressure different from tournaments in lower categories. In the main draw, she will play against opponents who on grass often rely on experience, short points and quick adaptation to the specific rhythm of the surface. Vidmanova will arrive in London without previous experience in the main draw of a Grand Slam, which makes her appearance one of the more interesting individual stories after the change in the list of participants.
Changes on the entry list before the start of the tournament
According to the WTA, Mboko’s withdrawal is the third change in the Wimbledon main draw after the publication of the initial entry list. Before her, Hailey Baptiste withdrew because of a knee injury at Roland Garros, and Sonay Kartal because of back problems. Their places were taken by Hanne Vandewinkel and Paula Badosa, and Darja Vidmanova now joins that group as Mboko’s replacement. The WTA also states that this changed the list of the next alternates for the main draw, among whom are now Francesca Jones, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, Nadia Podoroska, Ashlyn Krueger, Katie Volynets, Moyuka Uchijima, Lulu Sun and Oceane Dodin. Such lists remain important until the final confirmation of the draw because each new withdrawal can change the composition of the tournament.
The official Wimbledon website states that the entry lists for the 2026 edition have been available since May 19, while the final draw will be confirmed shortly before the start of the competition. The main tournament begins on June 29 with the first rounds of men’s and women’s singles, and doubles enter the schedule a few days later. For players on the edge of entering the main draw, the period before the draw is often uncertain, because they must simultaneously follow the possibility of direct entry and prepare for qualifying. In Vidmanova’s case, the move into the main draw also means a change in her competitive plan, because she no longer has to fight through the qualifying section. The WTA stated that her entry also shifted the qualifying list, with Elena Pridankina and Polona Hercog gaining places in qualifying.
The wider significance of the injury ahead of Wimbledon
Victoria Mboko’s injury comes in a period when the season quickly switches from Paris clay to grass, and such a transition is traditionally one of the most demanding in tennis. After Roland Garros, players have a limited number of weeks to adjust to a faster surface, different movement and shorter rallies. In that sense, Queen’s Club was supposed to serve as preparation for Wimbledon, but for Mboko it became the end of the grass-court part of the season before the biggest tournament on that surface had even begun. According to official WTA and Wimbledon data, her withdrawal does not affect only her personal schedule, but also the structure of the entry list, Vidmanova’s place and the status of players waiting for an opportunity. In the professional calendar, where points, form and health constantly overlap, one injury often has consequences that reach beyond a single match.
For Mboko, a period of recovery and assessment of further appearances now follows, and for Wimbledon an adjustment of the draw without one of the players who was supposed to have an important role in the women’s competition. The WTA has not yet published additional medical details, so it remains unclear when the Canadian tennis player could return to tournaments. Serena Williams, according to the same source, plans to continue her comeback in Berlin, although her first stop ended much earlier than expected. Vidmanova, on the other hand, enters Wimbledon with an opportunity that opened suddenly, but one that could be important for the continuation of her professional career. The grass-court part of the season has thereby gained a new dynamic even before the start of Wimbledon: one of the greatest hopes of the WTA Tour must pause, and one debutant gets direct entry onto the biggest stage.
Sources:
- WTA Tour – announcement about Victoria Mboko’s withdrawal from Wimbledon, left knee injury and Darja Vidmanova’s entry into the main draw (link)
- WTA Tour – report on the withdrawal of the Victoria Mboko/Serena Williams pair from the doubles tournament at Queen’s Club (link)
- WTA Tour – report on the Karolina Pliškova – Victoria Mboko match and retirement after a fall on grass (link)
- WTA Tour – official profile of Victoria Mboko with ranking and season statistics (link)
- WTA Tour – official profile of Darja Vidmanova with ranking and basic information (link)
- WTA Tour – official page of the HSBC Championships tournament at Queen’s Club and context of the return of WTA competition (link)
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official dates and schedule of Wimbledon 2026 (link)
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official entry lists page for Wimbledon 2026 (link)