Venus Williams has been handed a wild card to compete at this year’s US Open alongside Reilly Opelka in the mixed doubles event, Afrosport reports.
The 45-year-old made a stunning comeback last week after being out for more than a year. Williams and Opelka were among the 14 teams announced by the U.S. Tennis Association on Tuesday for its mixed doubles event set to take place from 19-20 August.
Eight of the 14 teams received direct entry into the setup based on a combined singles ranking, while the other six were given wild cards by the USTA.
The eight pairings with direct entry into the field are Emma Navarro and Jannik Sinner; Paula Badosa and Jack Draper; Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud; Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz; Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune; Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev; Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul; Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev.
Like Williams and Opelka, the following duos received wild cards: Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz; Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe; Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic; Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton; and last year’s US Open mixed doubles champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
14 teams are IN!
Eight teams have received direct entry and six teams have received wild cards to the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship. The final two wild cards will be announced at a later date. pic.twitter.com/mkAteJDQVT
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) July 29, 2025
An entry of 16 duos is expected for the US Open mixed doubles event, with the last two wild card pairings to be unveiled at a later date. The teams will compete for the $1 million prize money.
Meanwhile, Williams, who is returning to her first WTA tournament since appearing at the Miami Open last year, won her opening singles and doubles match at the DC Open last week.
She has also been handed a wild card for next month’s Cincinnati Open and could request for a wild card to participate in the US Open singles. Those are expected to be announced by the USTA in two weeks.
Along with her seven Grand Slam singles titles, Williams has 14 Slams in women’s doubles and two in mixed doubles.
