VENUS WILLIAMS extended her US Open campaign by partnering Leylah Fernandez to reach the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles event.
The forty five year old American tennis legend and her Canadian partner defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai six three, six four in their third round match.
This marks Williams’ first Grand Slam doubles quarter-final appearance since two thousand sixteen.
Williams entered the doubles draw after receiving a late wildcard invitation from tournament organisers.
She revealed that her retired sister Serena Williams has been providing remote coaching support throughout their doubles run.
Williams shared that Serena called her earlier on Monday to offer encouragement and tactical advice before their match.
She described Serena as being extremely excited yet nervous while watching their matches from home with her children.
Venus jokingly urged her sister to fly to New York to attend their quarter-final match in person.
She suggested they would force Serena to hit with them despite her retirement from professional tennis.
The Williams-Fernandez pairing could potentially face top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the next round.
Williams returned to competitive tennis at July’s Washington Open after a sixteen month absence from the tour.
She previously indicated that this US Open would likely conclude her competitive season after her singles exit. – AFP
