Serena and Venus Williams will reunite at a Grand Slam for the first time in four years on Friday as the US Open third round brings major tests for Jessica Pegula and Ben Shelton.
The two-time US Open doubles champions will face 14th seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Maya Joint in their first-round doubles match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Serena, 44, returned to doubles in June after almost four years away from the format. She partnered Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club and Karolina Muchova in Berlin before returning to singles at Wimbledon.
The sisters planned to play together at Wimbledon, but Serena’s knee injury forced them to withdraw. They reunited in Cincinnati last month but lost in the first round.
Venus, 46, reached the US Open doubles quarter-finals with Leylah Fernandez last year and will hope to make another deep run with her sister.
Chan and Joint will provide a difficult opening challenge. The pair reached the Memphis final, the Toronto second round and the Cincinnati quarter-finals. Joint also defeated Serena in the first round at Wimbledon during the latter’s singles comeback.
Pegula faces her own demanding test against Fernandez in the women’s singles third round.
The third seed has reached this stage without dropping a set and has yet to face a break point. Her precise serving has allowed her to control rallies and deny opponents chances.
Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, has shown improved form in New York after a difficult Grand Slam season. Pegula leads their head-to-head 3-1 and won their latest meeting in Miami earlier this year.
“Leylah is really tough to play against. Being a lefty is always tricky,” Pegula said.
“She’s really aggressive. She changes the direction of the ball really well, hits a lot of good angles and is a good returner.”
Shelton faces another left-hander in Denis Shapovalov. The eighth seed reached the third round for the third straight year after beating Hubert Hurkacz in four sets.
Shapovalov has dropped only one set and arrives after reaching the Los Cabos final. Shelton, however, has won all four of their previous meetings, including a comeback victory in Dallas earlier this year.
The American’s serve and greater baseline consistency could prove decisive, but Shapovalov’s attacking game gives him the weapons to make Shelton work for another fourth-round appearance.
Top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz also feature on Friday, with Sabalenka facing Kamilla Rakhimova and Alcaraz taking on Yibing Wu.
But the return of the Williams sisters gives the day its biggest nostalgic draw, while Pegula and Shelton carry the immediate hopes of the American singles contingent.
