Venus and Serena Williams have been granted a wildcard entry to compete in the women's doubles at the U.S. Open, marking their first Grand Slam appearance as a pair in four years. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced the decision, which will see the two-time U.S. Open doubles champions team up once again in New York.
Their last Grand Slam doubles partnership was at the 2022 U.S. Open, which coincided with Serena's farewell tournament before she transitioned away from professional tennis. Serena had recently returned to the court for doubles at the Queen's Club in June and received a wildcard for the Wimbledon singles. However, a knee injury sustained during her singles match at Wimbledon prevented her from competing in the women's doubles there, where she was scheduled to play with Venus.
Venus, who has played sporadically on the WTA Tour in singles and doubles in recent years, reunited with Serena for the Cincinnati Open in August. They lost their match in three sets. Serena also participated in the U.S. Open mixed doubles this year alongside Carlos Alcaraz, reaching the quarterfinals.
Venus has also received a singles wildcard for the U.S. Open, which is scheduled to commence on Sunday, August 30. The Williams sisters have a formidable record in doubles, having won 14 major doubles titles together, with their most recent triumph at Wimbledon in 2016. Their appearances together at Grand Slams since then have been infrequent, including the French Open in 2018 and the U.S. Open four years ago. They first won the U.S. Open doubles title in 1999 and again in 2009. The pair has never lost a major doubles final.
Their first-round match at the U.S. Open is expected to take place on either Thursday, September 3, or Friday, September 4. Last year, Venus partnered with Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the U.S. Open women's doubles, reaching the quarterfinals before being defeated by the top-seeded team of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.