Newstalk ZB
New Zealand tennis player Erin Routliffe is prepared to face the “greatest of all time”, Serena Williams, in the American’s first match in nearly four years. Williams will play in the women’s doubles at the Queen’s Club Championships in London alongside Canadian Victoria Mboko, coming up against Routliffe and her American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez. Routliffe said the return of the 23-time grand slam winner has helped to drum up more interest than usual in the draw. “When we found out [we would play her], it’s exciting, it’s going to be an amazing opportunity, amazing experience,” she said. “I obviously grew up watching Serena, she’s probably the greatest of all time, one of the greatest of all time and I’ve never gotten a chance to share the court with her. “So I’m excited for that because it’s why you play tennis, probably why I started playing tennis from the very beginning is for moments like this.” New Zealand's Erin Routliffe (left) will play Serena Williams in the American's return to tennis. Photo / Photosport Despite the extra media attention on the match, Routliffe said she’ll prepare the same way as she always does. “I try to go into every match kind of similarly no matter the round, no matter who we’re playing, try to just focus on myself and enjoy the moment and work through the match as it goes. “Obviously playing with Nicole this week, we’ve never played together before so that’s another dynamic, figuring out each other, trying to be a team together.” Routliffe and Melichar-Martinez are the third seeds for the tournament while Williams and Mboko are unseeded, but the New Zealander hasn’t let that impact her mentality going into the match. “I’ve been seeded for the last few years at a lot of tournaments, so I think it’s just kind of normal and also seeding doesn’t mean much with this scoring system. “So everyone’s really good, every match we play we got to compete and go out there.” Williams’ last match was in the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round.
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