NEW YORK – Venus Williams won a ladies’ doubles match on the US Open for the first time in more than a decade – and this time without her sister, Serena.
Williams, 45, worked together with Leylah Fernandez on Thursday to beat the sixth placed pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Williams did her characteristic Twirl-and-Wave when it was over and called Fernandez, who is 22, “the best partner I have ever played-out-out Serena.”
Williams and Fernandez, the 2021 singles runner-up at Flushing Meadows, were heavy fan favorites in an almost full of Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the chair referee had to ask the crowd several times to remain silent.
The spectators gave Williams and Fernandez a standing ovation after they had demanded the opening breaker, despite finding out 5-2 in that set and rose Rose to Clep after the game.
There were songs of “Lord we go, venus, here we go!” And a sign in the stands was: “Welcome to the Williams Show.”
“Wow,” said Williams, who received a wildcard entry in the ladies Dubbles Draw, in her interview on the field. ‘Thank you, guys. Thank you for showing up for us. ‘
She had not won a ladies’ doubles competition in New York since 2014, when she and Serena got the quarterfinals, or at a Grand Slam tournament since the French Open 2018.
The last of the 14 major championships in the sisters in women’s doubles arrived in Wimbledon in 2016.
The older Williams has also won seven Grand Slam titles in singles and two more in mixed doubles.
She had been from the tour for 16 months until she returned to action by playing singles and doubling in the Citi Open in July after an absence of 16 months. She defeated Peyton Stearns, then number 35 in the world, to become the second oldest woman who won a singles match at Tour level.
Williams also played on the Cincinnati Open earlier this month and in the US Open Mixed Doubles Tourble Tournament last week with Reilly Opelka, lost in the first round. This is the first Major Williams since 1998 participated in all three events (singles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles).
In Singles, Williams, the oldest person who played Singles at the US Open since 1981, 11th placed Karolina Muchova, pushed to three sets before he fell apart on Monday evening in her 25th US Open Main Draw phenomenon most by each player since the open era.
Thursday’s game was the first for Williams in Doubles at a major since the US Open 2022, the last tournament of Serena.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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