Boulter teams up with 'absolute icon' Williams in Madrid

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• Published4 hours ago

Briton Katie Boulter said it was a privilege to play alongside "absolute icon" Venus Williams as they reached round two of the women's doubles at the Madrid Open.

Boulter, who was knocked out of the singles draw on Friday, and Williams, 45, had never played together before, but defeated China's Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan 4-6 6-3 10-7.

They will take on Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and American Sofia Kenin in round two.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams is on an 11-match losing streak in singles and her last doubles win was at the US Open in September.

"It was nice to play and it was meant to be," American Williams said.

"She has great energy - I don't even know if Serena [Williams] has this energy."

Boulter only approached Williams about playing earlier this week and admitted to feeling nervous before stepping on to the court.

"Everyone came out here for an absolute icon," Boulter said.

"I had nerves coming in this morning but you [Venus] calmed me down in the warm-up. We just enjoyed it. We had the mindset of going out with a smile on our face."

The 29-year-old from Leicestershire is due to get married to fellow tennis player Alex de Minaur later this year and Williams, who was married last year, said she is happy to give her new team-mate some advice.

"I don't know if she's taking my advice," said Williams. "I hope she does. My only tip for her is to take your time, you don't get that moment back and you've just got to enjoy it fully and take some days off."

Swiatek withdraws as Sabalenka advances

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In the singles tournament, world number four Iga Swiatek was forced to retire from her third round tie against American Ann Li because of illness.

Poland's Swiatek bounced back from losing the opening set to take the second but was trailing 3-0 in the decider when she called time on her tournament.

"I heard there is something going on between players, that the virus is somewhere on site. I'm sure I'll be fine in a couple of days but I had zero energy and zero stability and just felt really bad physically, and yesterday even worse," Swiatek said.

"On the court before the tournament I felt like I'm playing great so actually it's sad for me that I can't play because I was feeling really good with my game and I was moving forward in the process.

"But the tournament has just started and I couldn't even compete today so it's disappointing."

It is the earliest six-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek has exited the Madrid Open in five appearances, having won the title in 2024.

Swiatek will hope to recover quickly with the Italian Open beginning on 28 April and the French Open scheduled for 18 May.

Meanwhile, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka marched through to the fourth round with a 6-1 6-4 win over Jaqueline Cristian.

World number one Sabalenka, of Belarus, will face either Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina or Japan's Naomi Osaka next.

Hailey Baptiste pulled off an upset against Italian world number nine Jasmine Paolini, winning 7-5 6-3 to set up a fourth-round tie with Belinda Bencic.

In the men's singles, defending champion Casper Ruud beat Jaume Munar 6-0 6-1 and will face Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

World number three Alexander Zverev also advanced courtesy of a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over Mariano Navone.

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  • Published16 August 2025