Serena, Venus Williams gets US Open doubles wild card invitation

Fresh off her quarterfinals mixed doubles run with Carlos Alcaraz, Serena Williams and sister Venus will play in women’s doubles at the U.S. Open after accepting a wild-card invitation, the United States Tennis Association announced Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The 44-year-old continues to ramp up her activity on tour after a nearly four-year hiatus away from tennis.

Before her mixed doubles appearance on Tuesday, Williams last played at the U.S. Open in 2022, a third-round loss to Ajla Tomljanovic. She soon announced that she was "evolving" away from tennis after the tournament.

Williams, a six-time U.S. Open and 23 Grand Slam champion, started her comeback at Queen's Club in June in doubles competition with partner Victoria Mboko, but had to withdraw after Mboko was injured in a singles match.

She also competed in Berlin with doubles partner Karolina Muchova and received a wild card to compete at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to Maya Joint. Williams injured her knee during the match and had to withdraw from the anticipated doubles debut with Venus.

The sisters played their first doubles match together since that 2022 U.S. Open in the Cincinnati Masters on Aug. 17, but lost a first-round thriller to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

It will be the 10th time the two sisters have played doubles together at the U.S. Open, having won the 1999 and 2009 titles.

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