Venus Williams continued her impressive performance at the US Open, teaming up with Leylah Fernandez to reach the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
The 45-year-old American and her 22-year-old Canadian partner defeated the 12th-seeded duo of Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai with a score of 6-3, 6-1 in just 74 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Having received a wildcard entry, the pair has eliminated two seeded teams and has yet to lose a set in their three matches.
Supported by an enthusiastic crowd, Williams and Fernandez quickly took a 3-0 lead in the first set before their opponents fought back.
However, another break allowed Williams to serve out the first set.
The American-Canadian team displayed great synergy, with Fernandez effectively intercepting at the net, and they broke Zhang again in the third game of the second set.
Similar to the first set, they faced some resistance but responded by breaking Zhang once more, ultimately sealing their victory when Fernandez executed a clever volley at the net.
Williams, a seven-time singles and 14-time women’s doubles Grand Slam champion, is competing in her 25th US Open.
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She won her first women’s doubles title in New York with her sister Serena in 1999, three years before Fernandez was born.
In her on-court interview, Fernandez expressed her admiration for Williams, saying that “seeing you play on court with the same big smile you had back then is so inspirational and motivates me to keep going. I love that you love tennis.”
This marks the first time Williams has reached the quarter-finals of a major tournament since winning the Wimbledon title with Serena in 2016.
When asked if she had a message for her sister, Williams humorously replied that “she’s so happy for Leylah and me, she’s given us advice, and we just need her in the box, so my message is ‘Serena, you need to show up!'”
Their quarter-final opponents may be top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, whose third-round match had not yet started when Williams and Fernandez left the court after signing autographs for their waiting fans.
For Alexandrova, this was her second defeat of the day on Louis Armstrong Stadium, having previously lost in singles to Iga Swiatek on the same court.
