Venus and Serena Williams Reunited in Mixed Doubles at 2026 Cincinnati Open

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For the first time in nearly four years, Serena and Venus Williams shared a doubles court again. The reunion came Monday night in Mason, Ohio, at the Cincinnati Open, where the 14-time Grand Slam doubles champions faced Marta Kostyuk and Cincinnati native Peyton Stearns. The result was not what they had hoped for, falling 6-2, 1-6, 10-8 in a super-tiebreak.

“I thought it was fun, I thought it was special, I thought it was good,” Serena told reporters afterward. “We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match. We were starting to feel it, and it was really fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again.” Venus was equally upbeat, saying, “I think we’ve waited a long time to get back on the doubles court, even this year. Eventually, we find our way to each other.”

The reunion was originally meant to happen at Wimbledon, where the pair held a wild card for doubles. But Serena tweaked her knee during her singles return and was forced to withdraw before they could play together. “It was a little traumatic experience,” Serena said, “but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Monday was only Serena’s fourth match since launching her comeback earlier this summer. Four years after stepping away from the sport following the 2022 U.S. Open, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to competition in June, pairing with Canadian rising star Victoria Mboko to win a doubles match at The Queen’s Club in London. Her grass-court season ended with a first-round singles loss at Wimbledon. Serena, 44, has not yet announced her plans for the U.S. Open, which begins August 30, though the tournament is holding wild-card spots open for its mixed doubles event and her singles entry remains a possibility.

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Venus and Serena Williams on the court on Monday.

Venus, 46, has been more active. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has played singles and doubles in Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Cincinnati as a wild-card entrant in recent weeks. She has not won a singles match in more than a year, with her most recent victory coming against Stearns at the D.C. Open in July 2026.

“I think we give each other so much grace and encouragement,” Venus said after Monday’s match. “This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we’re really getting our stride for sure.”

Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.