Flushing Meadows Opens Its Doors to Venus Williams

American tennis legend Venus Williams, returning to the sport after more than a year’s absence, has been granted an invitation card to compete in the mixed doubles event at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion who turned 45 last month, and fellow American Reilly Opelka are among the 14 duos selected to participate in the revamped mixed doubles tournament, set to take place on August 19–20.

Last week, Williams won her opening singles and doubles matches at the Washington Open — her first appearances since the Miami Open last year. She is also set to compete via an invitation card at the Cincinnati tournament next month and may request a singles invitation card for Flushing Meadows as well.

While the winning mixed doubles team at the US Open will receive a $1 million prize, eight teams earned direct entry into the draw based on their combined singles rankings, including Italian world No.1 Jannik Sinner — reigning champion at the US Open, Wimbledon, and the Australian Open — who will pair with American Emma Navarro.

Montreal Open

Preparations for the upcoming US Open continue for top players at the WTA 1000 Montreal Open. World No.2 Coco Gauff kicked off her campaign with a hard-fought victory over fellow American Danielle Collins, winning 7–5, 4–6, 7–6 (7–2).

The Roland Garros champion and top seed in Montreal was on the brink of defeat but clinched the final six points to prevail after nearly three hours of play.

Commenting on the match, the 2023 US Open champion said, “It was a frustrating match for me, especially since I’ve been training well, but I couldn’t bring that into the match. I hope this was my worst match of the tournament and that I come back stronger in the next round.”

Gauff will face Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in the third round, after the latter defeated Serbia’s Olga Danilovic 6–4, 6–2.

Gauff, who is aiming for her 11th career title, particularly struggled with double faults — committing 23 — and managed only three aces, the last of which sealed the match after 2 hours and 55 minutes. She added: “It was a tough battle. Serving was the biggest challenge. If I had cut the double faults in half, the match would’ve been shorter. I think I played well overall, except for that part of my game.”

In another major upset, Japan’s qualifier Aio Ito stunned world No.6 Jasmine Paolini with a 2–6, 7–5, 7–6 (7–5) comeback win.

Ito, just 21 years old and ranked No.105, had already recorded her first-ever WTA 1000 win in the opening round against American Katie Volynets. She then followed it up with her first career win over a top-10 player.

Paolini, runner-up at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, had a chance to close out the match in the 10th game of the second set but failed to convert, and paid the price.

Ito’s dream run continues against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas, who defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 6–4, 6–4.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the ninth seed, advanced to the third round with a 6–4, 6–3 win over American Hailey Baptiste. She will next face Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who knocked out 20th seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6–3, 6–4.

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