\u2014 Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Should Williams move past Potapova, she\u2019ll face her doubles partner and fourth seed Diana Shnaider in the second round. The 46-year-old was originally slated to play with Alex Eala, but the Filipina star was absent from the doubles draw upon its release Saturday.<\/p>\n Williams competed alongside Eala in doubles last month when the pair reached the Bad Homburg quarterfinals.\u00a0\u201cWe had a great time playing in Bad Homburg, so we were looking forward to playing again,\u201d Williams said in her pre-tournament press conference. \u201cDidn’t work out this time. Would love for there to be future times. We’ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Venus Williams’ Doubles Partners<\/p>\n Inspiring multiple generations \ud83e\udd29#mubadaladcopen<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/n3jPow6ZGb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Williams had bad luck with doubles partners in the biggest tournaments this summer. Rising American Hailey Baptiste was set to partner alongside the legend at Roland Garros.\u00a0A day before their opening round match, Baptiste suffered injuries<\/a> to her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in her left knee during her second-round singles match.<\/p>\n Venus and her sister Serena received a women\u2019s doubles wildcard to play at Wimbledon. But the younger Williams injured her knee during her singles comeback match against Maya Joint and was forced to withdraw.<\/p>\n Venus on Serena<\/p>\n Alex Eala on why she isn’t playing doubles with Venus in D.C.:<\/p>\n “I have so much respect for Venus. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have to be around her, to learn from her, to hit with her. But I do think this is my first week coming back, and I think that Venus is\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/jlkFIDXVgo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Christian’s Court (@christianscourt) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI wonder how far we could have gone,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s just unlucky. I would like to hopefully get lucky, how about that?\u201d Injury aside, Venus was impressed by her sister\u2019s return to singles at Wimbledon last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe played stellar in that match. I think her level was so extraordinarily high,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSometimes you play players who are on fire, and they don’t seem to maintain that level afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n Possible US Open Reunion<\/p>\n Asked Venus her thoughts on Serena’s level thus far in her comeback.<\/p>\n “She played stellar in that match. I think her level was so extraordinarily high. It was very unlucky. Sometimes you play players who are on fire, and they don’t seem to maintain that level afterwards. You’ll\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ETwwmZtJc9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Christian’s Court (@christianscourt) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear when Serena will return to the tour; the singles wildcards for next month\u2019s National Bank Open in Toronto have already been accounted for. But Venus welcomes a possible Williams sisters US Open<\/a> doubles reunion later this summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would love to [play the US Open together], so we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d The Mubadala DC Open main draw begins Monday, July 27. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated’s\u00a0Serve On SI\u00a0for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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