Serena and Venus Williams to Play Doubles at U.S. Open

Serena Williams is returning to the U.S. Open, this time teaming up with her older sister, Venus, in doubles.

The Williams sisters received a wild card Wednesday and will play together next week, the U.S. Tennis Association announced. It will mark the 10th time they have paired up in U.S. Open doubles, an event they have won twice, in 1999 and 2009. Together, the sisters have captured 14 major titles.

The announcement comes a day after Serena Williams, 44, and 23-year-old Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated from the U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament. The pair, both returning from injury, won their opening-round match before falling to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals.

"It felt great," Williams told NBC News after the loss. "I haven't played a ton of tennis, but it still felt good to kind of get back out there and just kind of feel your groove. I honestly never, ever thought I would be back here playing tennis. So it's kind of surreal."

Williams is widely regarded as the greatest women's tennis player of all time, with 39 Grand Slam titles — 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. She spent 319 weeks ranked No. 1 in the world and, along with Steffi Graf, is one of only two women to win all four Grand Slam singles titles plus an Olympic singles gold medal. She said in 2022 she was "evolving away from tennis," though she never formally retired.

Alcaraz, the world No. 3, called playing alongside Williams a "privilege." "I felt the pressure," he said. "It's kind of as if I was playing the final of a Grand Slam. I just loved it, and I enjoyed every single second."

Williams returned to competitive tennis in June after a four-year break, only to injure her right knee during her first-round singles match at Wimbledon. She said her relationship with the sport has changed since then. "My relationship with tennis is like a love-hate thing," she said. "I love it, and then I hate to lose. ... But it's definitely more fun now. I just try my best not to put as much pressure on myself."

The first round of the women's doubles tournament begins September 3.