Overview
- Tournament organizers announced Monday that Serena and Venus Williams accepted a wild card to play women's doubles at the Cincinnati Open.
- Serena will play only doubles in Cincinnati as she manages a right knee tweak suffered at Wimbledon that forced her to withdraw from that tournament's doubles.
- Venus received a singles wild card for Cincinnati and will also join Serena in the doubles draw, giving her direct access to the main singles field despite a year-long singles losing streak.
- Cincinnati is a WTA 1000 hard-court event commonly used as the last major tuneup before the U.S. Open, and organizers and media frame the sisters’ appearance as part of Serena’s road back to New York.
- The reunion highlights the pair’s 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals and has renewed debate about discretionary wild cards and opportunities for rising players.