The dream is over: Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez eliminated by the world No. 1s

Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez were defeated in the quarterfinals of the US Open women's doubles, falling to the world No. 1 duo of Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova with a score of 6-1, 6-2. This marks the end of their dream week at Flushing Meadows.

The 45-year-old American and the 22-year-old Canadian had several incredible performances—with three straight-sets victories to reach the quarterfinals. However, they were no match for the tournament's top favorites, Townsend (the current No. 1) and Siniakova (the No. 2 and a 10-time Grand Slam doubles champion).

Exactly one week ago, the surprise announcement of the Leylah and Venus pairing for women's doubles was made, marking a new event for the legendary former No. 1. What seemed like an appearance just for the crowd turned into a simply remarkable run for the North American duo.

In the first round, they defeated the 6th seeds Liudmila Kichenok and Ellen Perez. In the second round, they took out Ulrike Eikkeri and Eri Hozumi. And in the round of 16, their victims were the 12th seeds Ekaterina Alexandrova and Shuai Zhang, allowing them to reach the doubles quarterfinals.

First Set

The differences were clear from the start, with Siniakova and Townsend securing two consecutive breaks and easily holding their service games. The No. 1 duo won 16 of the first 20 points in what seemed like a monologue as they raced to a 4-0 lead. Venus managed to hold her serve for the only time in the set, but then Siniakova and Townsend took control again, winning another two games in a row to close out the set 6-1. They won 74% of all points played.

Second Set

In the second set, things started off in the best way possible for the top seeds again, with two clean service games and an early break on Williams's serve. With a 3-0 lead, it was Leylah Fernandez who, for the first time, managed to hold a service game, creating the first flicker of hope for the all-North American duo. However, it wasn't enough, as their opponents held their serves and ultimately closed out the victory 6-1, 6-2 to move on to the semifinals.

The next opponents for Townsend and Siniakova will be Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens (the 4th seed), who just comfortably eliminated the Russians Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva.

Match Statistics Siniakova K / Townsend T vs. Fernandez L A / Williams V

Williams's Future Remains a Question Mark

Despite several performances at Louis Armstrong Stadium in front of a packed crowd, they couldn't continue their run, possibly marking Williams's last appearance of the year.

The 45-year-old star has remained active, but she herself has confessed that she has no intentions of traveling outside the country for tournaments. In recent years, she has exclusively made appearances in the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami Open in March) and the US Open Series swing (which has taken place over the past month).

Williams does not plan to retire yet, but it seems unlikely to imagine her attending the Asian or Middle Eastern swings in the coming months. We will have to see if the seven-time major champion has any more surprises for us or if we will have to wait until 2026 to see her in action again.

Regardless, she ends her American hard court swing with a positive record: 1-3 in singles (a win against world No. 35 Peyton Stearns) and 4-2 in women's doubles. She was also in mixed doubles with Reilly Opelka, where they fell in the first round to Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.