Serena and Venus Williams will compete in the US Open women's doubles event on the evening of September 4, recreating one of the most successful and special tennis pairs in tennis history.
When Serena Williams returned to play singles at Wimbledon this summer after nearly four years of absence, the event immediately attracted great attention. But the long-awaited reunion with her sister Venus in doubles could not take place, because Serena had a knee problem in the loss to Maya Joint in the first round of women's singles.
Two months later, the Williams sisters were finally back together at a Grand Slam. They received a special berth to participate in the 2026 US Open women's doubles and will meet the No. 14 seed pair Chan Hao-Ching - Maya Joint in the evening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 4 (6 a.m. September 5, Hanoi time). This is the first time Serena and Venus have played doubles at a Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open.
The appearance of Maya Joint made the match more interesting. The 20-year-old Australian tennis player was the one who defeated Serena after three sets at Wimbledon, in the American legend's first Grand Slam singles match since the 2022 US Open.
Serena is currently 44 years old, and Venus is 46. In terms of achievements, few couples in history have as remarkable a record as the two sisters. Together they won 14 Grand Slam women's doubles, including six Wimbledons, four Australian Opens, two Roland Garros and two US Opens. The two championships in New York came in 1999 and 2009.
They also won Olympic gold medals in women's doubles three times in 2000, 2008 and 2012. The special thing is that that achievement was created even though the two had never pursued the doubles event regularly.
"For us, the goal is titles," Venus once said. "We wanted Grand Slam titles, so that's when we focused on playing. And we did pretty well."
Former tennis player Pam Shriver even said that the record of 20 Grand Slam women's doubles that she and Martina Navratilova held could have been broken if the Williams sisters really set their sights on pursuing it. But as their singles careers developed, Serena and Venus, like many other stars, gradually reduced the number of doubles tournaments to focus their physical strength on bigger goals.
That makes them an almost unheard of phenomenon in modern tennis: two of the world's top singles superstars simultaneously forming a doubles pair capable of dominating the Grand Slam.
In recent years, top singles players still appear in doubles. Coco Gauff once won Roland Garros 2024 with Katerina Siniakova, while Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek also have remarkable achievements. Gauff and Jessica Pegula once formed a top pair before the 2024 Olympics, while Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider are one of the current exceptions who still regularly compete together.
But it has become rare for two players of Serena and Venus' caliber to both aim for singles and doubles titles at the Grand Slam.
The increasingly dense competition schedule is one reason. Singles matches are always given priority, while a player competing in both events may have to play late doubles and then return to the court the next morning. The fact that many WTA 1000 tournaments last two weeks makes top players consider between playing doubles and resting. Jessica Pegula admitted that the opportunity to go home to rest is sometimes more attractive than staying in the tournament to play one more event.
The Williams sisters are different. They don't need to play doubles regularly to build chemistry. Understanding each other after decades of training and competing together allowed the two of them to bounce back and immediately become a formidable opponent.
The latest re-appearance shows that. At the Cincinnati Open last month, Serena and Venus lost to Marta Kostyuk - Peyton Stearns 2-6, 6-1, 8-10. Even though they were led 0-6 in the deciding tie-break series, they won six straight points to get back into the race before giving up a close loss.
"We had to wait a long time to return to the doubles court," Venus said. "In the end, we always find our way back to each other. We give each other a lot of sympathy and encouragement."
This US Open also marks a new chapter in Serena's comeback journey. She left tennis after the tournament in New York in 2022 to focus on family and work off the court. In the summer of 2026, the owner of 23 Grand Slam women's singles returned to compete, then appeared at the US Open in the mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz and reached the quarterfinals.
Venus has not been away from tennis for as long as her sister and has remained competitive over the years. At the age of 46, she also received a special berth in the US Open women's singles this year. But standing next to Serena again on Arthur Ashe Court means something different from any singles match.
Four years ago, the two sisters lost to Linda Noskova - Lucie Hradecka in the first round of the 2022 US Open women's doubles. At that time, it was considered one of the last times the audience could see them compete together.
Now, Serena is back and the two sisters have the opportunity to continue the journey that brought them 14 Grand Slams. Shriver believes that if they really focus, Serena and Venus can even compete for another major title.
Because even though age and tennis have changed, what once made the Williams sisters a special couple remains: they don't need much time together on the court to know what the other will do.
