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Serena Williams and Venus Williams will play competitive tennis together for the first time in nearly four years after the sisters accepted a wild card into the women’s doubles at the Cincinnati Open, tournament organisers confirmed on Sunday. The pairing, which owns 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals, will feature at the Aug. 8-23 event in Mason, Ohio, their first appearance as a team at the tournament and their first match of any kind together since the 2022 US Open.
The wild card headlines a women’s entry list that also hands Venus a singles berth alongside Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend, Caroline Dolehide, Elvina Kalieva, Darja Vidmanova and French breakout Lois Boisson. For Serena, 44, the doubles draw marks the continuation of a comeback that few expected after she stepped away from the sport following her run to the third round in New York three years ago.
A reunion four years in the making
The last time Serena and Venus shared a doubles court, they lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows in September 2022, a night framed at the time as a farewell rather than a pause. Serena, who has since spoken about being “evolved” away from tennis rather than formally retired, has spent the intervening years building her venture-capital firm and raising her two daughters. Venus, 46, never fully closed the door, playing sporadic singles events and returning to the tour circuit this summer.
Their partnership is among the most decorated in the history of the sport. The sisters are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals, winning all 14 they have contested across the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Their Olympic haul — gold in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 — remains a record for a doubles pairing, and they have never lost an Olympic doubles match together.
What the wild card means
Cincinnati is one of the most demanding hard-court events on the calendar, a WTA 1000 that serves as the final significant tune-up before the US Open, which begins in New York on Aug. 24. Playing doubles offers the Williamses a lower-pressure route back to match sharpness against elite opposition without the physical toll of a singles run — a familiar template, given the sisters used the same tournament as a springboard throughout their primes.
Venus taking a singles wild card adds a further layer. She has not won a tour-level singles match in some time, and Cincinnati’s fast conditions will test whether her serve — long the foundation of her game — can still trouble the current generation. A meaningful result for either sister would reshape the conversation ahead of the season’s final major.
For the tournament, the coup is obvious. The Williams name still moves tickets and television ratings in a way few active players can match, and organisers will bank on the sisters filling the Grandstand and Center Court sessions regardless of the scoreline.
The bigger picture
The reunion arrives at a moment when women’s tennis is defined by a young, deep field. Serena and Venus will not be favourites; they may well draw a top seed early. But the significance is less about silverware than about presence. The sisters transformed the sport across three decades — in power, in athleticism, and in who the game was seen to belong to — and their return, however brief, connects the current tour to that lineage.
- 14 — Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, from 14 finals
- 3 — Olympic doubles gold medals (2000, 2008, 2012)
- 2022 — the last time the sisters played together, at the US Open
- Aug. 8-23 — the Cincinnati Open dates
Whether the wild card produces a deep run or a single memorable night, it guarantees the Williams sisters at least one more entrance together. After a career spent redefining what was possible on a tennis court, a reunion in Ohio feels less like a curtain call than an encore they were always entitled to take.
Sources: [WTA](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4553303/serena-venus-williams-accept-cincinnati-doubles-wild-card), [Cincinnati Open](https://cincinnatiopen.com/news/cincinnati-open-womens-wild-cards-headlined-by-williams-sisters-doubles-entry/), [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/12040/13569496/serena-williams-given-wild-card-for-cincinnati-open-womens-doubles-alongside-sister-venus-as-comeback-continues), [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2026/08/03/venus–serena-williams-get-wildcard-into-cincinnati-open/)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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