Venus Williams hosted one of the most iconic celebrations of tennis. She stepped onto the court, raised her hand to admit the crowd, jumped over slightly, spinning around, absorbing the applause.
When her partner Leylah Fernandez reached the final 16th in the final 16th of the U.S. Open on Saturday, her partner Leylah Fernandez brought her to the court, it seemed Williams had spinning the time.
The 45-year-old has reached this stage of the Grand Slam since the 2018 French Open. But she has a solid partnership with Fernandez, giving No. 6 seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez a 7-6 (1), 6-1 on Saturday, and a 6-1 win over Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi in the second round on Saturday.
Fernandez, a 22-year-old Canadian who entered the U.S. Open singles final in 2021, replicated his partner’s celebrations to pay tribute to the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion.
“She was an inspiration,” Fernandez said later in a court interview before addressing Williams. “You inspired me to continue traveling through good and bad journeys, so seeing you play here and having fun because you love the sport, it’s inspiring, it’s inspiring.”
Williams and Fernandez found themselves 3-1 early in the first set and broke the game early in the first set, but they avoided two breakout points (both sealed by Williams' volleyball champion) to avoid double breakouts.
At that time, Williams was fired and she even waved at the crowd to further anger them. “I've never actually done that,” she said. “But we're frustrated, so we want the energy you bring. We need it.”
They broke the game again in the next game, delighting the party crowd on the Flushing Meadows and finished the first set in the tiebreak after winning seven straight points.
After such a close first set, Eikeri and Hozumi seemed to lose some intensity in the second game, while Fernandez and Williams won all the games.
Now they will face No. 12 seeds Ekaterina Alexandrova and Shuai Zhang, or UK vs Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal in the quarterfinals.
Earlier this week, Williams has been the oldest singles player at the U.S. Open since 1981, when she faced No. 11 seed Karolína Muchová, arguably the best tennis ball in years to beat the game 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
She only had 16 months to return to the game in July and impressed people like two-time U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka in this competition.
“It's incredible to still see Venus on the court,” Osaka told reporters. “I know, when people talk about her, they first mention her age, but I feel we should appreciate her so much that she's still playing, she still provides inspiration for many people.
“I watched her play against Muchova and I think it was really her performance and how she was moving was incredible.”