For a minute there, it was just like old times – with the high stakes and the capacity crowd and the Venus Williams on court. After Aryna Sabalenk’s singles match ended in a walkover on Tuesday, Williams’s doubles quarter-final was bumped into primetime on Louis Armstrong Stadium to fill the hole in the schedule. And when Williams took the court with partner Leylah Fernandez in her black pleated dress and matching visor as the sun dipped toward the horizon, she looked for all the world like a woman determined to turn back time. Unfortunately for her, Fernandez and the throng that gathered to cheer them on, their opponents were keen to skip forward.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend didn’t just cut the nostalgia trip short. Quite emphatically, they illustrated the difference between Williams and Fernandez, the doubles pairing out there for funsies, and themselves – the team that’s truly in it to win it. The top seeds’ beat Williams-Fernandez 6-2, 6-1 in just under just an hour. Siniakova and Townsend won all their service games, controlled the net and broke Williams and Fernandez at will – they beat ‘em up so bad they practically apologized for it afterward.
In the post-match interview, Siniakova called it a “privilege” to play Williams, “a legend” she last played in 2017 – a second-round loss at the Canadian Open. “I remember I loved her back-out Reebok dress,” Townsend added. “That was what drew me to tennis. It was the cute outfits. Growing up watching Venus and Serena, [they] had always been, for me and my sister, an inspiration and we really wanted to be like them when we grew up.”
There were no hard feelings on the other side. There never are with Williams, a trailblazer who still radiates with class and grace even at this intriguing late career stage. For hardcore fans who have been following the 21-time grand slam champion since the mid-1990s, the bonus time with Williams is something to savor because we don’t know how much longer it will last. Personally, I can remember covering this tournament 20 years ago when Williams used to talk about watching DVDs of the Fresh Prince to break up the monotony between practices and weather-induced match delays. “DVD?” she joked when I brought this up on Tuesday night. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s older than me.”
But she remembered. “My dad only let us watch educational programs growing up, so I never really got to see The Fresh Prince until I grew up. It was, like, major for me as a 20-year-old to watch that, but it never gets old.”
No one could have known that that same Fresh Prince actor would play her father someday. “Will Smith is a legend,” she continued.” The fact that he did such an honor to play my dad, and he took it – you can’t understand how seriously he took it. He really put his whole life into it, and he got rewarded for it too. In turn, we all got rewarded for it. I have so much respect for him.”
As for the casual fans born in this century? Most have gone their entire life without seeing Williams make history at Wimbledon, grab the No 1 ranking and dominate the sport until her younger sister Serena snatched the baton. That Venus is even still out here grinding on the women’s tour at age 45 while Serena has settled into retired life as a mother of two and a Super Bowl pop-out is striking. Big sister wasn’t supposed to be the one who switched off the lights.
Venus’s unconventional relationship with tennis always made it seem as if she could take or leave the sport at any moment. She didn’t play juniors before turning pro at 14 and played the women’s tour at her own pace instead of to protect her ranking. Amid years of injury struggles, she has had to further contend with Sjögren’s syndrome – a chronic autoimmune disorder known for its energy-sapping qualities.
Fans show their appreciation at Flushing Meadows. Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images
These days the ferocious power and court-covering elasticity are diminished to the point of leaving her struggling to survive the early rounds of tournaments. For this year’s US Open, she was lucky to receive a wildcard. (“I’m so thankful to the USTA for supporting me and my effort here,” she said after Tuesday’s match. “It would have not been possible without them and them believing in me to be out here.”) Ten, 15 years ago? She could have easily called time on her career with public support on her side. And had she done so, you can imagine the USTA struggling to choose between honoring her or Althea Gibson at this year’s US Open.
Instead, Williams effectively kicked off the festivities on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the center court that has long been her main stage. She played mixed doubles with fellow American Reilly Opelka and hung with 11th-seeded Karolina Muchová for two hours until she lost that first-round singles match in three sets. Despite her impressive resume, Williams has never been a natural doubles player. As long as her sister was with her on court, she only had to cover the alleys, watch Serena serve and let their awesome tandem power take care of the rest.
Leading up to the US Open, there was some wishful thinking that Serena might come out of retirement to help a sister out. But ultimately it was Fernandez, the 2021 US Open finalist, who came to the rescue after the Canadian beat Townsend in July’s DC Open final – a victory that Williams says made her feel “so inspired”. It went both ways. “Seeing Venus playing on court for joy just kind of brought me back as to why I started playing tennis,” Fernandez said. ”It’s probably the most important thing is that I started playing tennis for the love of the game and for bringing joy on court, not only for myself but also for the fans.”
At times, the contrast of Williams’s venerable eminence and Fernandez’s youthful exuberance made Williams look less like a peer to the 22-year-old than the rich auntie priming her for a high school tryout. But ultimately, they proved a formidable team on their own while vibing their way through the first three rounds of the doubles without dropping a set.
Against Siniakova and Townsend, however, they were overwhelmed from the off and down 0-4 in 16 minutes. A 97 mph service winner from Williams stopped the bleeding for a moment and brought back memories of days when she could hit shots like that at will. ”I’m very proud that I stayed myself,” she said. “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.” But for the most part, Williams and Fernandez’s stiff hands were no match for Siniakova and Townsend’s sharp-angled volleys.
Afterward, Williams and Fernandez were first to concede that they weren’t in their element. “Leylah and I, we kept telling each other to be the best singles player we could be,” Williams said. “So our focus will always be singles. I’m not going to suddenly become a doubles player. I never did; I never will. It’s the singles for me.”
When Serena neared the end of her incredible run, it took for ever for her to explicitly say the r-word – retired – much less concede she was no longer at her peak. But in Williams’s case, the thought of retirement doesn’t even seem like it’s entered her mind. If she has her druthers, you reckon she’ll keep showing up at tournaments and partnering with any top player who’ll have her – much like Martina Navratilova towards the end of her career – until, suddenly, she doesn’t.
The real satisfaction in watching her now comes not in seeing if she can turn back time, but in how much longer she can stretch it. “I was never out of love with the game,” she said on Tuesday. “I never had to think about if I loved the game. I was always playing, so it’s part of my DNA. But clearly, like, to be out here grinding at this point, there has to be a little love, right?”
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