Serena Williams is resuming her highly anticipated campaign alongside sister Venus at the 2026 Cincinnati Open. The American legend has arrived at the venue ahead of the sister duo’s doubles opener, potentially on Monday, August 17.
Serena and Venus were spotted training on the practice courts on Sunday, and the former shared a message about her arrival.
Venus and Serena Williams Set to Renew Their Partnership at the Cincinnati Open
Serena Williams re-entered the tennis scene during the grass-court season in June. After competing in doubles at a couple of tournaments, she accepted wildcards into both the singles and doubles draws at Wimbledon but ultimately did not follow through with the doubles partnership with Venus Williams.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion injured her knee during her hard-fought three-set loss to Maya Joint in the first round of the singles, forcing her to abandon the much-anticipated doubles partnership with her sister.
Serena is set to continue her comeback in Ohio this week after the sisters received a wildcard into the doubles draw. While the two-time singles champion arrived at the venue on Saturday, her sister was already there, having entered the singles draw as a wildcard. She suffered a 6-2, 6-2 first-round defeat to Emiliana Arango.
Venus and Serena Williams were spotted training together on court Sunday, with the latter looking upbeat as she acclimatized to the conditions during a warm-up session with her team. In a message on the tournament’s official social media page, she said:
“Hey, y’all! It’s Serena here. I’m back in Cincinnati. Don’t ask me why or how. But I love this place. It’s like it’s always one of my favorite stops on tour. And when I decided to play a few tournaments, I said, ‘You know what, Cincinnati Open is one place I would never miss.’”
On Instagram, she wrote, “Even in the hardest times, you have to show up and be ready… A new me.”
Meanwhile, Venus Williams, who also competed at the Canadian Open in Toronto, opened up about their partnership during a press conference.
“We were really looking for… I think the whole world was looking forward to Wimbledon, and it just didn’t end up the way we had hoped. So, hopefully we can get on the court and get back into the swing of things and pick up right where we left off.”
The Williams sisters were last in action together at the 2022 US Open, where Serena was bidding farewell to tennis. The 14-time Grand Slam doubles champions fell to the Czech pair of Linda Nosková and Lucie Hradecká.
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At the Cincinnati Open, they begin their campaign against Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.