Venus Williams is continuing her tennis comeback with a mixed doubles appearance at the US Open, but the spotlight may also fall on her sister Serena, who has been tipped to reunite with her in the women's doubles draw. Rick Macci, who coached the Williams sisters from 1991 before they turned professional, believes the 23-time Grand Slam champion could be back in action in Flushing Meadows later this month.
Macci, a United States Professional Tennis Association Hall of Famer, said: "Asked if Serena will play doubles with Vee at the OPEN. My gut is probably because at the end of the day Serena can still play even though she has been away. Her serve is still one of the best on the planet and when she competes her mindset is like granite."
Serena, 43, has been dropping hints of a return through cryptic social media posts, including a video of herself rallying on the practice court captioned "Still Serena", and a photo of her hitting a ball while holding her youngest daughter, Adira. Venus, 45, recently made a winning return in Washington after a 16-month break, before losing in the second round of both singles and doubles, and has since competed in Cincinnati.
Ahead of Venus's comeback, the sisters practised together, and Venus admitted she misses having Serena on tour. "I don't ask those questions. I don't ask her that. I'm her biggest fan. I never wanted her to retire," she said. "I don't know what she's going to do. I think we always hit the ball, because that's who we are, we're always hitting.
"Quite frankly, it's great cardio. You get great legs and great arms from tennis, quiet as it's kept. So obviously that's part of her goal too is to stay in shape. I mean, I keep saying to my team, 'The only thing that would make this better is if she was here', like we always did everything together, so of course I miss her. But if she comes back, I'm sure she'll let y'all know."
