Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez celebrate their victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai to reach the U.S. Open women’s doubles quarterfinals. (Photo from @leylahanniefernandez instagram)
Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez reached the U.S. Open women’s doubles quarterfinals with a straight-sets win over the 12th seeds.
This impressive win completes their flawless start to the tournament: they had earlier upset the no. 6 seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez in the opening round and followed with a straight-sets victory in the second round—all without dropping a set.
For Venus Williams, 45, this marks her first Grand Slam doubles quarterfinal since her 2016 Wimbledon triumph with sister Serena Williams—and her first U.S. Open doubles quarterfinal since 2014. Despite Serena’s retirement, her influence remains strong; she has been offering coaching support and encouragement from afar, even prompting Venus to humorously plead for her presence in the box.
Their next opponent is the top-seeded pair of Kateřina Siniaková and Taylor Townsend, setting the stage for a compelling quarterfinal showdown.
