Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez reached the third round of women’s doubles at the U.S. Open by defeating Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi 7-6 (1), 6-1 on Saturday.
Williams and Fernandez fell behind early, like they did in the first round before rallying and finding their rhythm. The 45-year-old American and 22-year-old Canadian had never played together until this week, when they received a wild-card entry into the field.
“We have a few secrets,” Williams said. “I was telling her a few things, but, yeah, I guess we forgot we got down. We were focused on winning the match. The score doesn’t matter. All that matters is you keep putting it in and keep being the one to win the point, and then here you are at the end.”