"Serena Williams you need to show up" - Venus Williams sends firm message to her sister after reaching US Open doubles QF with Leylah Fernandez

On Monday (September 1), Venus Williams stormed into the quarterfinals of the women's doubles event at the US Open alongside Leylah Fernandez. After her round of 16 win, the American had a firm message for her sister, Serena Williams.

For Venus Williams, the US Open marks the third tournament of her tennis comeback. In July early this year, she competed at the Citi DC Open and the Cincinnati Masters, making it to the quarterfinals in the women's doubles event in the former.

This time around, the former World No.1 looks ready to one up herself. On Monday, Williams and Leylah Fernandez outdid 13th seeds Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai in their round of 16 encounter. After the match, the 45-year-old issued a special message for her sister, Serena Williams, saying in an on-court interview,

“She’s so happy for Leylah and I. She’s giving us advice. We just need her in the box. My message is, Serena, you need to show up.”

The seven-time singles Grand Slam champion went on to share a piece of the advice Serena Williams had given her prior to the match, saying,

“It's so funny because midmatch I told Leylah I was like ‘you know Serena told me, I'm not going to tell you what she told me, but she said I have to do this more’. And then Leylah says ‘my sister told me the same thing’, the same exact advice so it's so funny but like we're on the same wavelength and hopefully we can keep it going”

Venus and Serena Williams were doubles partners for nearly two decades. Between the two of them, they won 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals.

Venus Williams thanks the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd after reaching US Open quarterfinals

Williams at the 2025 US Open (Image Source: Getty)

Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez have dealt with a tricky draw at the US Open. For their first round match, the duo took on Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez and claimed a narrow 7-6(4), 6-3 win over the sixth seeds. They then went on to defeat Eri Hozumi and Ulrikke Eikeri.

For their round of 16 match, Williams and Fernandez were able to dominate Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai. After their win, the American thanked the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium for their support, saying,

‘First of all, hey everybody, I'm telling you, we can feel your energy. It puts us up and whenever we have a moment where, you know, it's not going exactly perfect, you guys bring us up. So, thank you so much.”

Up next, Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez will take on Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova for their quarterfinals encounter at the US Open. The duo are the top seeds of the tournament and Williams and Fernandez will need to dig deep if they hope to pull off another upset.