Williams and Fernandez reach doubles last eight

Leylah Fernandez is less than half the age of 45-year partner Venus Williams

US Open 2025

Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 24 August-7 September

Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website & app

Venus Williams continued her dream run at the US Open by reaching the women's doubles quarter-finals alongside Leylah Fernandez.

The 45-year-old American and her 22-year-old Canadian partner upset 12th seeds Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai 6-3 6-1 in 74 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The pair, awarded a wildcard into the draw, have now knocked out two seeded pairs and are yet to drop a set in any of their three victories.

After the win, seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus called on younger sister Serena, who won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, to join her courtside at her next match.

The sisters also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.

Asked if she had a message for her sibling, Venus joked: "She's so happy for Leylah and I, she's given us advice and we just need her in the box, so my message is 'Serena, you need to show up'."

Speaking later, Venus said Serena's daughters Olympia and Adira have been supporting her from home and added: "If she [Serena] came, it would be a dream for both of us and we'd have her on the court coaching.

"We'd force her to hit, even though she doesn't hit often. It's probably best she doesn't come because we'd probably bully her."

Cheered on by a partisan crowd, Williams and Fernandez raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set before being hauled back by their opponents, but another break allowed Williams to then serve out for the first set.

The American-Canadian duo looked sharp with Fernandez poaching well at the net, and they broke Zhang again in the third game of the second set.

As in the first set, they were pegged back but once again responded by breaking Zhang and wrapped up victory when Fernandez intercepted at the net with a smart volley.

Williams, a seven-time singles and 14-time women's doubles Grand Slam champion, is playing her 25th US Open.

She won the first of her two women's doubles titles in New York with Serena in 1999, three years before Fernandez was born.

Addressing Williams in her on-court interview, former US Open singles runner-up Fernandez said: "Seeing you play on court with the same big smile you had back then is so inspirational and motivates me to keep going. I love that you love tennis."

It is the first time that Williams has reached the quarter-finals of a major since winning the Wimbledon title, also alongside Serena, in 2016.

Their quarter-final opponents could be top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, whose third-round match had not begun when Williams and Fernandez left the court having signed autographs for many of their waiting supporters.

For Alexandrova, it was the second defeat of the day on Louis Armstrong Stadium, having earlier been knocked out of the singles by Iga Swiatek on the same court.