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.