UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 14: US Open 2009 Womens Doubles Finals: Holding winners Trophy Cup Serena Williams and Venus Williams defeat Cara Black and Liezel Huber. (Photo by Howard Earl Simmons/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
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Serena and Venus Williams will take the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday night at the U.S. Open.
The sisters will kick off the night session against No. 14 seeds Maya Joint and H.C. Chan in women’s doubles. The match will air on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.
Ironically, Williams also faced Joint, the 20-year-old Australian, in her return to the singles court at Wimbledon after nearly four years off, losing in the first round 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3.
The Williams sisters have played doubles together at the U.S. Open nine times (1997, ‘99, 2000-01, ‘09, ‘12-14, ‘22), going 27-7 and winning both the 1999 and 2009 titles.
Serena played in the U.S. Open’s Mixed Doubles Championship last week with Carlos Alcaraz, reaching the quarterfinals. She did not play singles, but Venus did and lost in the first round to fellow American Sofia Kenin.
The Williams sisters received a wild card to play doubles at Wimbledon, but they withdrew before playing their first-round match due to a knee injury Serena sustained during her singles match.
They then played at the Cincinnati Open, losing their first match to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, including six at the U.S. Open. She last played singles at the Open in 2022, losing a third-round singles match to Ajla Tomljanović 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1. At the time, she said she was “evolving away from tennis” to focus on her family.
15 AMERICANS INTO 3RD ROUND
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 24: Ben Shelton of the United States reacts against Ignacio Buse of Peru during their Men’s Singles First Round match on Day One of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 24, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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Fifteen Americans have advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open singles mains draws, the most since that same number in 2002. The last time more than 15 Americans made the third round was 17 in 1995.
The eight American women is the most since eight also reached the third round in 2022 and the seven American men is the most since seven reached that stage in 2012.
Ben Shelton, the top-ranked American man and the No. 8 seed, will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov on Ashe after the Williams’ sisters play doubles.
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