Talking about Serena and Venus Williams’ incredible bond and their on-court partnership, their childhood coach, Rick Macci, once said, “They were like two peas in a pod at 11 and 10, holding hands, sharing snacks, skipping together—and in many ways they’re still like that.” And even now, as a 45-year-old Venus Williams makes a comeback at the DC Open, her long-retired sister has to be part of the conversation—one way or the other.

Just a few days ago, Serena Williams posted a video where she was seen hitting a few balls, and guess what? The intent, the passion, the hunger—it felt like nothing had changed since her retirement three years ago. Naturally, there was a buzz on social media about whether she was intending to make a comeback. Venus Williams, too, was put on the spot over it. “I keep saying to my team: The only thing that would make this better is if she were here. Like, we always did everything together, so of course I miss her. But if she comes back, I’m sure she’ll let y’all know,” she said in the press conference ahead of her first official match in over a year. After the match, however, she couldn’t help but send some banter her younger sister’s way. 

It was a successful doubles outing for Venus Williams on Monday as playing alongside the young Hailey Baptiste, she defeated Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue 6-3,6-1. After the match, she took to her Instagram stories with a rather hilarious video meant for her younger sister. “Hey! I’m just leaving the DC Open after playing my first match in a year, after surgery. Hailey Baptiste is my new doubles partner,” she began. And then came the punch, “Watch out, Serena.” Wonder what Serena would have to say about that. Either way, she couldn’t help but feel grateful to be able to play tennis again.

“And it feels so good to be out here with these amazing fans. The love I got from all the fans at DC…it was very motivating. So be back tomorrow, will be playing singles…I’m so excited. It’s so good to be playing tennis again,” she added in the video, which also had a little footnote that read, “Still missing @serenawilliams though @ladyisha01.” After all, you cannot just move on from someone with whom you have grown up and won 14 doubles Grand Slam titles with. Moreover, she can hardly dismiss Serena’s contribution behind her comeback.

Last year, as she was preparing to make the most out of her wild card entry into the Indian Wells, Serena made one thing crystal clear for Venus. She wasn’t allowed to quit. “I would never quit, but it’s a mandate! She said, ‘no’, so I will be back on the court,” Venus shared via YouTube. And while she couldn’t compete at Indian Wells, she is reminding the world who she is in Washington. Up next? An exciting singles match-up against a compatriot.

Venus Williams eyes a similar start in her singles match

It’ll be interesting to see if she can hold on to this momentum in her singles match against Peyton Stearns. This will be her first meeting with Stearns. Talking about her upcoming challenge against the 23-year-old, former American tennis player Andy Roddick issued a stern warning to the seven-time Grand Slam champion. In the recent episode of the Served podcast, Roddick said that Peyton Stearns will be looking to extend the match and test Venus Williams’ fitness levels, because she has been out of action for more than a year now. However, the win in the doubles match could possibly do wonders for her confidence ahead of this duel.

What did she say after her doubles win, though? Well, Venus Williams was quite impressed with Hailey Baptiste’s game. She said it’s great to have her to kind of hold the team up. Williams claimed that Baptiste serving first helped her a lot to get back to the rhythm slowly in the match. She feels pretty nice to be able to play, and all she wants is to be healthy for the rest of the season.

“It was inspiring to be out here. I love this game and still hitting it big,” said Venus Williams. Later on, while showering praise on Hailey Baptiste, she also jokingly added, “I think from the first point I could see that we were going to be a good team. We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.” What are your thoughts on Williams’ performance in her doubles match, though? Do you think she can keep this winning momentum intact in her singles match as well?