Venus Williams is getting ready to return to the court, preparing for her first tournament since the Australian Open.

Despite holding a 4-0 lead in the final set, Williams was beaten by Olga Danilovic in the opening round of singles play. She also exited early from doubles, partnering Ekaterina Alexandrova for the first time.

Despite a disappointing run in Melbourne, the 45-year-old has committed to playing in the ATX Open. The tournament will also see Bianca Andreescu return to the WTA Tour.

While there had been talk about her possibly teaming up with Iva Jovic for doubles in Austin, she has chosen to partner with another American instead.

Venus Williams teams up with Peyton Stearns for doubles at Austin

The ATX Open has handed a doubles wildcard to Williams and Peyton Stearns, marking their first time playing together.

While this will be their debut as a duo, the two have faced each other before. At last year’s Washington Open, Williams picked up her first singles win since 2023 by beating Stearns.

The 45-year-old has not added another singles victory since then, but she will be hoping that teaming up with the Ohio native can help her find some form.

The doubles draw also includes Taylor Townsend, who is back in action after taking a break since the Australian Open. She will be partnering Storm Hunter instead of her usual teammate Katerina Siniakova.

Venus’ doubles partners beyond Serena Williams

Venus has secured 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her younger sister, Serena Williams, with recent rumours suggesting Serena may return this year and potentially renew their successful partnership.

Williams has also played doubles with 12 different women outside of her sister. Peyton Stearns will be number 13 on that list.

A few names from that group include Coco Gauff, Caroline Wozniacki and Chanda Rubin.

After Serena retired following the 2022 US Open, Venus did not play doubles with anyone else until last year.

Since then, she has teamed up with Hailey Baptiste, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina and Alexandrova.

The best result came at last year’s US Open when Venus and Fernandez reached the quarterfinals.

She will be looking for more success at the ATX Open, where she is set to start her singles campaign on Tuesday, 24th February.

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