Venus Williams to pair with British player for Madrid Open doubles after singles exit

Venus Williams has now dropped 10 straight singles matches on the WTA Tour after another defeat this week.

The 45-year-old, who resumed her career at the 2025 Washington Open last July, hasn’t found much momentum since that return, despite a notable win over Peyton Stearns in her first match back.

Williams was beaten again on Tuesday, this time falling to world number 140 Kaitlin Quevedo.

After losing 2-6, 4-6 to the Spanish youngster, Venus will shift her focus to doubles action in Madrid.

Since coming back, she’s paired with players like Leylah Fernandez and Peyton Stearns. This time around though, she’ll be linking up with a British partner for her next doubles campaign.

Katie Boulter to partner Venus Williams in Madrid Open doubles

Williams, who has 16 Grand Slam titles across women’s and mixed doubles, will team up with world number 61 Katie Boulter for the event.

Boulter last played a doubles match at the 2025 US Open. Paired with Sonay Kartal, she reached the second round before losing to the 12th seeds Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zhang Shuai.

Now, she returns alongside Venus Williams, a former world number one in both singles and doubles.

Their first-round opponents will be China’s Xinyu Jiang and Yifan Xu. A win there would set up a second-round meeting against either Su-Wei Hsieh and Sofia Kenin or Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls.

In an interview reported by Jose Morgado, Venus explained how their partnership came together: “She asked me to play. I’m looking forward. She has great attitude and energy”.

The pair are scheduled to play their opening match on Thursday.

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