The Williams sisters are back. Venus and Serena Williams will compete together in women’s doubles at the 2026 US Open after being granted a wildcard by tournament officials on Wednesday, setting the stage for another chapter in one of tennis’ most storied partnerships.
The announcement by the US Tennis Association comes just 24 hours after Serena’s dramatic return to Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she partnered with Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles, winning their opening match before falling in the quarter-finals to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
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Venus had already been granted a USTA wildcard to compete in women’s singles, an event Serena is not participating in, but it’s the sisters’ doubles reunion that will capture headlines and pack stadiums when the US Open begins on 30 August.
Fourteen grand slams and counting
The Williams sisters aren’t just doubles partners, they’re doubles royalty. Together, they’ve combined for 14 women’s doubles Grand Slam titles, including two US Open crowns. Add three Olympic gold medals in women’s doubles to that haul, and you’ve got a partnership that ranks amongst the greatest the sport has ever seen.
But recent form has been disappointing. The sisters last competed together in New York in 2022, losing their opening match to the Czech pairing of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova. They dropped their opening match at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month in similarly swift fashion.
They’d also entered Wimbledon earlier this summer but were forced to withdraw after Serena suffered an injury during an opening-round singles loss, a setback that cast doubt over whether the partnership would continue at all.
Wildcard wildfire
Wednesday’s wildcard announcement confirms the Williams sisters aren’t done yet. Despite the recent struggles, despite the injuries, despite the advancing years – Venus is 46, Serena 44 – they’ll take another swing at adding to their extraordinary doubles legacy on the sport’s biggest stages.
The US Open crowd will be electric. Arthur Ashe Stadium will be packed. And when Venus and Serena walk onto that court together, the roar will be deafening.
Whether they can recapture the magic that delivered 14 Grand Slam titles remains to be seen. But in a sport that’s given them so much, and to which they’ve given even more, the Williams sisters have earned the right to go out on their own terms.
The US Open begins 30 August. The Williams sisters are back. And tennis is better for it.
