How Wigan schoolboy played central role in Serena Williams' return to court!

The 44-year-old and her Canadian doubles partner Victoria Mboko, 19, secured a 7-6 (2) 6-2 first-round win over third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe at the HSBC Championships at the Queen's Club in London.

Watching on was David Quayle, who played a key role in the 23-time grand slam singles champion's return to the court.

The 26-year-old Wiganer - who attended St Wilfred's Primary School in Standish and then the Deanery High School, before moving to the Mouratoglou Academy in France for a tennis scholarship - has become established a 'hitting partner' on the circuit.

After sharing a court with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon last year, Quayle found himself jetting over to Florida to answer an SOS from Williams.

Since when he has been doing everything he could to keep the secret 'in house'!

"There was this excitement that she was going to play Queen's, but no-one knew yet," he said. "I didn't tell anyone...no-one except my family knew where I was going.

"It was quite exciting to be in on this little secret that you knew when the tennis world hears it would be huge news."

Incredibly, the pair had crossed paths before - Quayle had spent around a month hitting with Williams ahead of the 2018 French Open during his time at Mouratoglou.

"The practices we have been having have been pretty special," Quayle explained to BBC Sport. "She's not lost it - she's still operating at a very high level. She is just the ultimate professional.

"For me, she's the greatest of all time, and you see that in the way she does things on the court. It's incredible to just be a part of and witness - never mind actually learning from her and seeing her as a friend and an opponent.

"It's a funny thing to see someone that you have watched their serve on TV for so many years, and then all of a sudden that serve is coming at you.

"You're fighting between admiring some of the shots and actually playing them. She's got that kind of aura and it's hard sometimes not to feel a little bit nervous.

"I'm starting to getting a little bit more used to seeing her over the other side of the net, but every day is special."

"I feel like I can breathe and relax a little now the secret is out there.”

Williams herself admitted there had been nerves ahead of her eagerly-awaited return.

"Yeah, I think I was nervous, but I didn't really think about it,” she said. “I didn't really think about being nervous. I just thought about having fun, which I did today. So I didn't really have time. I got nervous right before the match, like, maybe 30 minutes before, and then I just let it go.

"It's just a day at a time. I still have a little time to decide, and they have been great about giving me that space and time to decide."