NEW YORK — Venus Williams’ first Grand Slam match in two years ended on Tuesday when she and Leylah Fernandez misplaced within the U.S. Open ladies’s doubles quarterfinals to the top-seeded duo of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-2.
When the match completed after 56 minutes in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Williams smiled as she walked to the online to shake arms with Siniakova, then hug Townsend. 1000’s of spectators rose to present Williams a standing ovation; Townsend and Siniakova then joined in, applauding for Williams.
“Growing up watching Venus and (her sister) Serena, for me and my sister, it was an inspiration,” Townsend advised the group. “It was an honor to share the court today.”
Siniakova known as Williams “a legend” and mentioned it was “a privilege” to play in opposition to her.
The 45-year-old Williams earlier exited within the first spherical of each singles — bowing out in opposition to Karolina Muchova in three units — and blended doubles. She was out of competitors for 16 months till returning to play at a match in Washington in July. Her most up-to-date main match had been the 2023 U.S. Open.
“What I’m proudest of is it’s not easy to come off the bench. It really isn’t, and I have never had a layoff that long. It brought new challenges that I wasn’t ready for in so many ways. So I’m very proud that I … stayed myself. I didn’t try to play another game. I didn’t try to play it safe. I went for it, and that’s who I am. I go for it. When you go for it, good things happen,” Williams mentioned. “Perhaps I didn’t get there this time, but I know who I am, and I know that I can work once I have a little chance.”
She mentioned she wasn’t positive of future plans however made it sound as if she plans to play once more.
“Seeing Venus playing on court for joy just kind of brought me back as to why I started playing tennis,” mentioned Fernandez, a 22-year-old from Canada who was the 2021 singles runner-up in New York.
Williams and Fernandez obtained a wild-card entry from the U.S. Tennis Affiliation and had not misplaced a set of their first three matches of their debut as a workforce.
Townsend, who’s at present ranked No. 1 in doubles, and Siniakova are an skilled duo who gained Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open this yr collectively. Siniakova has gained a complete of 10 Grand Slam titles in ladies’s doubles.
Williams, in fact, is the proprietor of 14 Grand Slam titles in ladies’s doubles alongside Serena, who left the skilled tour in 2022.
The older Williams sibling has additionally gained seven main singles championships and one other two in blended doubles.
She was the oldest participant within the singles draw on the U.S. Open since 1981.
Townsend’s time in Flushing Meadows continues in ladies’s doubles after she didn’t convert eight match factors and bought knocked out of singles within the fourth spherical by Barbora Krejcikova.
“It was a tough match, but ultimately, I left everything out on the court. That was the only thing that me and the team could ask for,” Townsend mentioned. “I really feel like matches like that are defining moments and opportunities. You can either go up or go down.”
Townsend was additionally within the highlight for a tense post-match alternate of phrases with Jelena Ostapenko after a singles match.
Within the doubles semifinals, Townsend and Siniakova will meet the No. 4 seeds, Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens. The opposite semifinal matchup is No. 2 Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in opposition to No. 3 Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe.
Kudermetova and Mertens gained Wimbledon final month. Errani and Paolini gained the French Open in June.
