Williams sisters headline Cincinnati Open doubles wild cards

Serena and Venus Williams received a doubles wild card for the Cincinnati Open, marking their first partnership since the 2022 US Open. The 14-time Grand Slam doubles champions return to action, while Venus and other players also received singles and qualifying wild cards

Cincinnati: Serena Williams and Venus Williams have been awarded a doubles wild card for the Cincinnati Open, which runs from August 13 to 23. This will mark their first match together since the 2022 US Open. As a doubles team, the Williams sisters have won 14 Major titles and three Olympic gold medals.

They last took the court for a doubles match together at the 2022 US Open and will be playing the Cincinnati Open for the first time as a team.

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For Serena, Cincinnati will mark the latest stop in her return to competition after nearly four years away from the tour. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to competition for the first time since the 2022 US Open at Queen’s Club in June, teaming with Victoria Mboko in doubles before making another doubles appearance in Berlin alongside Karolina Muchova.

She then returned to singles at Wimbledon, where she pushed 20-year-old Maya Joint to three sets before falling in the opening round. Venus has also received a singles wild card along with Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend, Darja Vidmanova, Elvina Kalieva, Caroline Dolehide and Lois Boisson. Venus owns a 12-10 Cincinnati Open record, having reached the semifinals in 2012 and quarterfinals in 2019.

The 46-year-old first played on the WTA Tour in 1994, and has won 49 career singles titles, including seven Majors and the 2000 Olympic gold medal. She held the WTA No. 1 ranking for 11 weeks. Stephens, a Cincinnati semifinalist in 2013, returns for the first time since 2023.

The 33-year-old American has won eight titles, including the 2017 US Open, and has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world. Townsend, winner of the 2023 Cincinnati doubles title, made her first WTA Tour final in Austin and climbed back inside of the Top 100.

The American will headline the doubles draw as the world’s No. 1 team alongside Katerina Siniakova. Qualifying wild cards have been awarded to 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, Akasha Urhobo, Carol Young Suh Lee, Jeline Vandromme and Robin Montgomery, a 21-year-old American who claimed her first WTA title in June.